


The Phantoms

by zeitgeist21st



Series: The Phantoms [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-04-30 22:47:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 258,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14507163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeitgeist21st/pseuds/zeitgeist21st
Summary: After ten years, the Fentons return to Amity Park.





	1. Season One

**Author's Note:**

> Set 24 years after Phantom Planet.
> 
> Originally posted on FanFiction August 4th, 2011

 

The town of Amity Park was relatively quiet for the duly dubbed Ghost Capital of America. True, there was always some mass of ectoplasm that would disturb the peace or start up a crime spree, but it became no more frequent than you would expect from the humans. In the twenty four years that has passed since the infamous Fenton Portal sparked to life and brought forth the existence of ghosts to this once quiet town, said town has adapted to their new environment.

After the incident that brought all the nations _and_ dimensions together to save their skins, which bears a name in the history books as the “Phantom Planet”, the two worlds finally came to acknowledge the brave and noble hero that had saved each of them countless times (mostly from each other). Said brave and noble hero was nothing more that a fourteen year old boy from a nowhere town in the Great Lakes.

Realizing that, the adults felt a little embarrassed.

The world, Amity Park especially, decided to finally learn self-sufficiency when it came to ghost attacks and chose the Fentons to teach them to do just that.

From that the Federal Bureau of Ghostly Affairs, the Ghost-Humans Crimes Unit, and the Thirteenth Precinct came to be.

With Detective Valarie Gray heading the department they were able to keep a steady balance on ghosts crimes. They also had Danny Phantom to thank for that in the beginning, but Detective Gray was too stubborn to even mouth the words in her former adversary's direction.

In the past ten years the Thirteenth Precinct had fewer and fewer caseloads to worry about as the ghosts seemed to have magically stayed on their best behavior. Only Valarie knew that the new peace was for two reasons. The first was that Fenton Portal II, the Ghost Portal Jack Fenton had made after Danny had trashed the first one, was once again destroyed beyond all recognition but this time there was no one around to rebuild it. The second is that the Phantoms, or Fentons as it is written on their birth and marriage certificates, had moved away ten years ago.

Both facts share the same sad story behind them, and she was the first to arrive when the call was made and she was the first to discover… what happened.

But that was ten years ago, at present Valarie is getting a call on her personal cell. She only gave out the number to her personal cell to people very close to her, so when it rang she knew it was important. Pulling her head from her work, Detective Gray picked put the phone and looked at the caller ID. _Danny._ With a smile she answered the phone.

"Hey Fenton," She said, "its been a while"

"Hey Detective," Danny teased, "how's the haunt without me there to protect it?"

"Fine actually, it's a lot more quiet without you zipping around with Skulker on your ghostly tail. I starting to miss the action part of my job."

"Glad to hear that, because we’ve got some news. We were hoping to tell you and Tucker together but since you hardly talk to each other we’re going to the next best thing and tell you at the same time. Sam is on the phone with Tucker right now.”

"Telling him what?" She said, but somehow she figured out the news before he had to tell her.

"The Fentons are moving back to Amity Park!"

When she heard that an explosion of emotions went off in her head. True, she was on good terms with Phantom after she found out that he was her ex-boyfriend. She actually became good friends with him and Sam after time. They even became godparents to her children. But she still had that uncomfortable feeling when she pictures the ghost boy, now a ghost man, flying around town without her in pursuit.

"That's great!" Valarie said with slight hesitance, luckily Danny couldn't detect it. She was very glad this wasn’t a video call, "When?"

"Two days," Danny replied, "we are planning to pack everything in the Speeder and getting down there when people are at work."

"Afraid of a good old fashioned fan riot on your doorstep" She said with a smirk. She heard him laugh a little on the other end.

"We thought we'd try not to drop a heavy workload on your team on our first day"

"You want me to help you move?"

"No, we’ve got that covered, but if you could bring over the paperwork for us that would be great. We want to get that over with as soon as possible."

The Bystander Contract, Valarie knew, was the paperwork Phantom had to sign every time he moved into a new town, or in this case an old town. The legal jargon is easily translated as: "because I have ghost powers, I have to help the police catch ghost criminals." What surprised her the most was that he said "us" instead of "me". Danny was the only one who had to sign it as he was the only "able bodied, ghost-human hybrid of immense power" around. Unless…

"I'm guessing she's going past the basics?" Valarie said, trying to hide her anxiety.

"They came in a while back, she only had to sign when they caught her skipping school while taking a test at the same time."

"How does that fare with her?"

"You'll see for yourself, come in at one. We'll have everything set up by then." and he hung up.

Valarie placed the phone on her desk and stared at it for a while.

The Fentons are coming back to Amity Park, bringing over all their ghostly adversaries with them and making her job a lot harder. She can handle the ghosts just fine. She really did her days flying around town in a jet sled shooting down all the baddies in her red jumpsuit. The real trouble was having Phantom join the force, stealing her spotlight, being admired by the city for breaking every rule and expensive building in sight. Phantom …and his daughter.

 


	2. The New Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pilot episode of sorts to this series. Danny, Sam, and Ophelia move into a new house in Amity Park and become acquainted with the teens in the neighborhood. Ophelia has her first day in Casper High.

The students of Casper High ended school at the same time as they always had, with or without a ghost drill to hinder their schedule. Most of the student body split in half, one dispersed into the Amity Mall to start their afternoon of labor or patronage; the other went to the Nasty Burger to do more or less the same thing.  
To them it was just another Tuesday.

But for those who live on Willow Street, it was not another Tuesday. It was the day that 648 became occupied. The kids on the street looked at the cars parked and empty boxes in the garage and drive way with curiosity, but only six on them went over to the house to feed it. One of the six was Owen, an auburn-haired ninth grader who live right next door in 646. The only division of the two houses was an old wooden fence that stood about seven feet high. At the five's request, Owen lead the way into his backyard and to the fence. The six of them gathered some crates from the tool shed and each climbed on one to looked over the fence. Luckily, the crates only got them high enough that only the upper halves of their faces showed through, nothing anyone would notice as long as they were quiet

In the back yard of 648 there was green grass and an old apple tree, brown and lifeless with age and dehydration. Leaning against the tool shed was a white moped, and in front of it was sleek but small aircraft, no bigger than an SUV, with the Fenton Works logo on the side and the words "Fenton Specter Speeder" written on the side. On the bumper there is a sticker indicating that vehicle is Eco-friendly, as it had an engine that runs on ectoplasm.

"That's a Specter Speeder," said a boy in the group, "that thing fully capable of traveling into the Ghost Zone with a Mach five top speed!"

"We can read you know" said a girl.

"And everyone knows what a Specter Speeder is," said another girl, "police fly around in those all the time."

"Yeah but this one doesn't look like it belongs to the police." said the third boy in the group.

"Well who else would have a Speeder?" said the third girl.

"Who ever it is should be pretty awesome neighbors." said Owen,

Just then the back door to 648 opened and a young girl walked out with supplies in her hands. The girl was no taller than five feet with a long mass of black hair that at the moment hid her face from the six teens. She looked like she was about twelve years old, but the way she dressed and walked made them think she was a little older. Her clothes consisted of a knee length black dress with black lace tights and black lace up boots. Where the long sleeves ended there were black lace-up fingerless gloves revealing purple polish on her long fingernails.

"Great, like we don't have enough Goths in our class!" said the blonde girl, squeezing in as much outrage she can cram into a whisper.

"Are you familiar with the phrase 'don't judge a book by its cover'?" Owen said to the girl.

"See how you fare after her depressing music and poetry floods into your room every night"

"Abi, shut it!" one of the boys said. The girl in black did not seem to pay attention as she appeared to be planning to build something in the middle of the vast lawn. She measured an area and jotted down in a notepad. She then zoned it out with stakes and string to be built later. After that she finally noticed the apple tree dying in the corner.

"That just won't do," the kids in Owen’s yard heard her say, "not at all if I can help it."

She walked over to the tree and placed her gloved palm on the thick trunk. Just then the tree glowed as life flowed back into the limbs. The branches grew leaves and then pink blossoms soon followed. The blossoms then grew into bright red apples, one of them falling into her hand. She then promptly took a bite and smiled.

"Red delicious, my favorite!"

"Whoa" was all they could say at the moment, simultaneously.

The six teens stared on in shock. Obviously they have seen weird stuff before, they live in Amity Park out of all places. In the ghost capital of the world, weirdness should be nothing to them. But never have they seen a Goth girl with magic tree reviving hands.

"The tree"

"Wasn't it just dead?"

"It was"

"She brought it to life!"

"With just a touch"

"My twitter page is going to explode when I post about this!"

"Congratulations Owen" Abi said sardonically, " you not only have a Goth, but a spooky plant witch for a next door neighbor."

"Hey! The spooky plant witch has a name you know!"

With that the six teens jumped and then turned to the girl in black, now standing right behind them in Owens yard.

Her arms were crossed as her eyes glared at them critically and her purple lips bent into a mischievous smirk.

"It's not cool to trespass." Owen said.

"I would say the same thing about voyeurism." she said with a tone to match her smile.

"We just wanted to see the new neighbors." said Owen, apparently appointed the spokesperson to the group.

"That's what a front door is for, you knock on it and introduce yourself and they introduce themselves. You learn a lot more from it than you can from standing on a crate."

The six looked at each other anxiously and then back at the girl.

"If you want, I can bring my parents out here so you can meet them. My godmother is here, too. I believe she's the commanding officer of one of the precincts here, you guys might have an interesting chat."

"No, no, that's fine. We don't have to meet our makers just yet!" Owen said worried.

The girl finally broke out in a fit of laughter at the sight of the six trembling teens.

"Dude! Chill, I'm just messing with you. But if you guys do want to see my new house, I'll be more than happy to show you around. Incarceration free."

With a sigh of relief they accepted her offer.

"My name is Ophelia, by the way. Ophelia Fenton."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Owen, the blonde girl who called you a plant witch is Abi. And this is Darcy, Wal, Em, and Mick"

"Did you say your name is Fenton?" said the boy Owen referred to as Wal.

 _Here we go,_ Ophelia thought as she rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"Do your parents happen to be Daniel and Samantha Fenton?"

"Most people just call them Danny and Sam, or Mr. Fenton and Ms. Manson for formality's sake."

_Here it comes..._

Ophelia plugged her ears.

 _"_ YOUR DAD IS DANNY PHANTOM!" exclaimed Wal

"YOUR A PHANTOM!" exclaimed Darcy.

"I LIVE NEXT DOOR TO DANNY PHANTOM!" said Owen excitedly.

Ophelia took her fingers out of her ears as she answered the same questions she was given since she had the ability to speak.

"Yes, my dad is the super hero Danny Phantom. But he prefers the name Danny Fenton at work and in human form. No, the word "phantom" is nowhere near my birth certificate so I prefer it that you call me Ophelia Fenton. And if this is your house" she pointed to Owen's house, "then logic says that you are our new neighbors as we are yours. If you guys are going to go fanatic on me and my family then you can just stay on those crates as I bring out Detective Gray."

"We'll be good."

"We promise."

"We just need to get it out of our systems."

Ophelia shot them a glare with her neon green eyes and then smiled. "Okay," she said, "I'll go back in my house and pretend this didn't happen. Then as soon as you're done screaming your heads off, then you can walk over and introduce yourselves properly. But if you guys wig out in front of my dad, I will kick you out." As she said that she walked through the fence, across the yard and opened the door into her house. As soon as she shut the door she can hear them go into an all out fan fit. No matter how many times she heard that sound and see the fits, they were always hilarious.

* * *

 

 After they had cooled down the six teens left Owen's house and walked into the front door of the Fenton's house. Owen then rang the doorbell. A woman answered the door. She looked almost exactly like Ophelia, or rather Ophelia looked almost exactly like her. The only differences Owen could spot at first site was that this woman was a head taller, her neat hair stopped at her shoulders rather than messily down her back, and her eyes were a soft lilac rather than a bright green. She looked older than Ophelia, but not by much, making Owen think she was another of Danny Phantom’s daughters. How old was Phantom, anyway?

"Hello, can I help you?" Said the woman.

Owen Once again spoke for the group. "Um..Hi, I'm Owen Dodgson. I live in the house next door to yours. And my friends here live on the same street. We saw someone had moved in and thought would we would be the first to welcome you to the neighborhood."

The woman smiled that same mischievous smile Ophelia had moments earlier and then spoke. "Ophelia caught you looking from over the fence?"

"Pretty much" Owen said as they all blushed and looked at the ground.

"Leave it to her to spot the neighbors before we do," she turned into the house and called out. "Ophelia, your friends are here."

"Already?" Ophelia then appeared right by her in no time flat, "I thought you guys would take hours to chill out. Why don't I show you guys around?" she turned up to the older woman. “Is that okay, Mom?”  
Mom?

“Wait,” Mick said, before Owen could think of asking, “You’re Sam Manson?”

Ophelia and the woman looked at each other. It made Owen think there was some kind of inside joke he wasn’t aware of.

“Well, yeah,” said Ms. Manson, “Who else would I be?”  
Mick looked away. His embarrassment was so palpable Owen could feel it as his own.  Mick was fumbling with his words while trying to keep his glasses on his face.

“I, uh, I kind of thought-“  
“You thought she was my sister.” Said Ophelia.

Mick’s face turned red. All six of the kids turned red, they all thought the same thing.

“It’s okay,” Ms. Manson said, smiling sympathetically, “My husband and I get that a lot.”

As Ophelia led her red-cheeked peers inside, Sam asked her friends if they needed any refreshments.

"No thanks, you just moved here. We don't want you guys rooting though all your stuff just for us."

"Actually, we have everything unpacked. We've been here since nine and some of us" motioning to Ophelia who sports a jovial grin, "Can duplicate themselves so this stuff is a breeze for us. You guys sure you don’t want anything?"

"Oh, um... no. Thank you, anyway."

"Any time."

* * *

 

 The next morning Ophelia got up and ready for her first day at Casper High. Today Ophelia dressed in a green long-sleeved t-shirt and red jeans. She wore red bangles and converse that were hidden under the long pant legs. Her long black hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, her bangs swept a little below her eyebrows. Around her neck was her lucky charm: a pair of goggles with red lenses. The lens of the left eye was cracked slightly in the upper outer curve. That crack was a reminder of the day the goggles saved her life, the only good reminder of the worst day of her short life. And because of that, the crack was never fixed.

Ophelia headed down the stairs and into the kitchen for breakfast.

"Morning Sweetie," her mother said at the counter.

"Morning Ophelia," her father said as he was making breakfast.

"Good morning Mom and Dad. What's for breakfast?"

"I thought I'd make french toast for your first day." As he said that he placed a plate of them in front of her. She ate them delightedly.

"Ophelia, do you want me to drive your to school today?" Sam said as she drank her tea.

"No thank you, I thought I would blade down there. Em has a pair and said we could go down there together."

"How is it that it's not even your first day of school and you already had six friends?" Her dad said.

She shrugged and said, "I just have that aura, I guess. I’d better go. She's waiting outside for me." A split second later, the doorbell rang proving her right.

Her dad stopped her as she was about to leave.

“You sure you’d rather not have me drive you over? It’s a long way to school, I want to make sure you get there safe.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes.

“Stop worrying, Dad, I’ll be fine. And besides, I know all the numbers to call if anything happens.”

She went to the doorway and grabbed her blades. "Bye Mom and Dad, have a nice day at work." and then abruptly left.

“Bye, honey,” Danny called after her, “Don’t hesitate to call us if anything happens.”

The only thing he heard from her was the sound of the door shutting behind her.

Danny and Sam looked at the door and then at each other.

"Do you thinks she'll have a nice day at school?" said Sam.

"She always makes the day interesting." Danny said. “Like father, like daughter”

They both smiled at that, but the smile did not last long.

"When do you think we should tell her?" Sam said, breaking a minute of silence.

"As soon as Valarie and I can prove my theory right."

Sam stared down at her mug.   
“You know he’ll go after her again.”  
“He’s going to go after all of us, he has been since day one.”

“This is a bad idea, Danny.”

“I know, I know, but spending the rest of our lives running away from shadows isn’t any better.”  
Danny looked out the window. He caught a glimpse of Ophelia and her friend right as they were disappearing around the corner.   
“If you don’t want to stay here, if you think it’s too much of a risk, just say the word and we’ll leave just like all the times before. Just tell me I’m crazy and we’ll get out of here.”

Sam looked up at Danny. Her warm held his with a beauty and firmness he has known since grade school and have never learned to escape. A hint of a smiled pulled the corner of her mouth as she got up from her seat. She wrapped her arms around her neck and pulled his face close to hers.

“If you’re crazy, then I’m crazy too. And don’t you ever think you could ever get me to move anywhere if I didn’t want to go.”

* * *

 

 Em and Ophelia got there twenty minutes early, enough time for Ophelia to get to the office to retrieve her new schedule and to the library to gather all the textbooks she'll need for the semester. Luckily, Ophelia had homeroom with Em who showed her to their classroom.

When they entered the classroom, Ophelia nonchalantly slipped her teacher her note from the office and found a desk by Em. Once class started, however, the teacher reassigned her to a seat by the window as another student occupied her previous desk.

"Class," said the teacher after the bell rang, "I'd like you to meet our new student. Ms. Fenton, please come up here."

Ophelia shrank back in her seat.   
“Do I have to?”

With a stern look, he motioned Ophelia to stand right next to him. Reluctantly, she did so as she heard whispers from the other students.

"Class, I'd like you to meet Miss Ophelia Fenton. She just moved here from…. Pontiac, is it?... and is now joining our class."

"Thank you, Mr..."

"I am Mr. Tesla, I will be your Science teacher for the rest of the year."

"Tesla, like the electric engineer?" She asked.

"Yes, now you know why I'm a physics teacher" he said with a dull tone. "Now class, you should know her family very well. Her father is none other than Danny Phantom, the superhero who graduated from this very school. You should be very lucky to be amongst her presence."

At that the entire class stared at her wide-eyed, their eyes even wider with astonishment as Ophelia disappeared before their very eyes in anxiety.

* * *

 

 "Am I going to go through that everyday?" asked Ophelia to Em as they headed to the cafeteria.

"Don't know, are you going to turn invisible every time someone mentions the name Phantom?" Em replied.  
Ophelia blushed. Instead of turning completely invisible, she met in the middle and became transparent, pulling a few eyes in her direction.

"Sorry, I do that when I'm nervous…like now."

Em shrugged.

“Then I guess it’s a good thing we have ghosts like Poindexter flying around the halls all the time, good for you that is.”

Ophelia cocked her head to the side, curious.

“Poindexter?”

Em suppressed a laugh. “You’ll see him soon enough. What I’m trying to say is that if we weren’t used to having ghosts around, you’d probably go deaf with the frantic screaming.”

"Yeah, I know. I've been turning invisible since birth, I've seen a lot of freak outs in my day."

Their entrance to the cafeteria was blocked by a bulky guy in a letter jacket.

“Hey, you’re that Phantom kid right?”

Ophelia’s face darkened, surprising Em. She took a half step back.

“My name’s Ophelia.” She said with a bite in her voice.

"Yeah, sure, want to come eat with the in-crowd?" said the guy with a smile.

"If you are the in-crowd then no thank you, I've already made plans."

The guy frowned. "Why wouldn't you want to be popular, you've got all the credentials for it."

She flashed her green eyes in annoyance, "And that would be...?"

"Well you seem to have talent, and you've got connections."

"That translates to me as 'you've got ghost powers and your dad is Danny Phantom'"

"And that's a problem, Phantom?"

"I’ll go ahead and say it now before anyone gets any wrong ideas about me. My name is Ophelia _Fenton,_ not Phantom. Get that through your head. I am not a superhero and I don't have archenemies, nor do I want any. And I've never met you until now, but I know that's only what you think of me as. So if you don't mind me, my friend and I will be eating lunch with our other friends." They walked away, leaving letter jacket dumbfounded and enraged.

"What makes you think that they will treat you any differently?" He shouted at her.

She then turned around and her eyes flashed like a strobe light. "They've been in my house, they've met both my parents, and they've seen some of my powers. All that and they never called me Phantom. And also," she blinked and her green eyes vividly glowed from under her bangs. "I am a great judge of character, Lucien."

"That's Luke!" But people were already laughing at the new and subjectively embarrassing knowledge of their favorite quarterback.

Once they got their lunch, Ophelia and Em sat with their five friends. Abi looked up surprised at Ophelia's outfit.

"I thought you were a Goth."

Ophelia looked down at her clothes.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I have to dress like that all the time. I have an eclectic taste in clothes."

"So you wear a different thing everyday?" Abi asked.

"Yeah, most people do that." Ophelia replied.

"How did you know Luke's real name?" Owen asked.

Realizing what she had just done Ophelia looked away. "I, um, saw his name on a file while I was in the office this morning."

Owen suspected something but shrugged it off. "I guess that makes sense."

Em then asked another question. "So, you knew we were there when you brought that tree to life?"

Ophelia looked nervous and stared intently at her lunch. "No, I only realized you were there when I heard Abi call me a plant witch. That's a pretty self-explanatory statement."

"Which I apologize for, by the way." Abi chimed in.

Ophelia half-smiled.

"It's okay, I've heard worse. Not everyone outside of Amity Park are okay with ghosts, some still refuse to acknowledge their existence. While others treat ghosts like second-class citizens. And for half ghosts like my dad and me…well, it’s not a royal welcome, I'll say that much. We made sure to stay far away from those places."

Darcy then finally asked what was on her mind since yesterday.

"So, you can walk through solid matter, turn invisible, move objects with a thought and revive dead foliage. What else can you do?"

She nearly choked on her milk when she heard this. She never liked this question, especially since it's the most frequently asked.

"You know, the same stuff you see my dad and other ghosts do."

Darcy was suspicious at that but just as she was going to press her on, a blue wisp drew out of Ophelia's mouth.

"What was that?" Owen asked.

"You said you get a lot of ghosts around her, right? Well, I just sensed one." She said and returned to her meal.

"That must be Poindexter,” Wal said, “You heard about him, right?”

“Not exactly, but I don't think it's him I'm sensing. It feels like the ghost is a block away.” She shrugged, “Whatever, he's most likely looking for my dad anyway." She then looked up to see a missile heading straight for her.

"Or not. Pardon me." she said as placed on her lucky goggles. She flew out of the table, through the wall and towards the missile.

When she was ten feet away from the approaching missile, Ophelia threw an energy ball right at the nose causing it to explode mid-flight fifty feet in the air.

"Crisis averted, now back to my lu-" She was cut off from her sentence when an ecto-net trapped her and pulled her towards a familiar ghost in a robotic suit.

"Welcome back to Amity Park, Whelp," said Skulker, "how's your first day of school?"

"Skulker!”

She materialized a knife out of ghost energy and slashed through the net.

“Why are you going after me, I thought I was too young to be your prey."

"True enough, but you're never too young to be Skulker's bounty!" He shot a rocket but she used an ecto-shield to deflect it.

"Bounty? Who would want to kill me without the pleasure of doing it themselves?"

She shot a ghost ray at Skulker, which hit him hard against a building. _Great,_ thought Ophelia _, first day of school and I am already causing property damage_.

Skulker then got back on his feet.

"There are hundreds of ghosts that would want to kill you for revenge on Danny Phantom, I being one of them. But my honor code as a hunter keeps me from hunting a defenseless and under developed prey."

"But hit men don't abide by any codes, do they?"

"Smart girl" He tossed a grenade at her that immediately exploded right where she stood.

"Smart enough to take you down." Skulker heard her say from behind. Ophelia then materialized an electrically charged machete and hack off all of his mechanical limbs.

"Do you know how hard it is to build a suit like this from scratch!"

"Do you know how little I care?" Ophelia then hacked off the robotic head. The machete dematerialized and Ophelia grabbed the head as the torso flew off into the sky. Ophelia took aim with her free hand and shot the torso and watch it explode over Casper High. _Fireworks, I'll be the girl who creates fireworks during lunch._

"And now back to the question at hand," Ophelia said as he shook the little ghost out of the head and into her hand. "If you didn't come here for sport, who hired you?"

Skulker tiny mouth formed into an evil little grin. "An old client of mine misses you. It's been a long time and he wants to see you again."

The red lenses of Ophelia's goggles hid the fear in her eyes. She became transparent in her attempt to suppress her urge to disappear, "He's back?"

"No, actually _your_ back. He never left, knowing you would all return eventually. I didn't think your family would be foolish enough."

Anger appeared as her eyes glowed green through the thick red lenses. With a wave of her hand a portal appeared in front of her revealing a ghost proof holding cell in the Thirteenth Precinct.

"Tell that to the police!" She flicked Skulker through the portal and both disappeared.

She flew back to the cafeteria and set herself back to her seat with her lunch in front of her. Her friends looked at her awkwardly as the rest of the cafeteria cheered. They saw it all through the window. Only her friends were able to see her worried expression through her hair as she picked at her salad. Something during the fight must have really shaken her up.

Owen broke the ten minute silence, "Uh... is everything okay?"

As if awoken from a daze, Ophelia looked up from her salad. "Huh? Oh, yeah. That was just Skulker, he plagues my dad a lot. I guess he decided I was old enough to hunt down like a wild animal."

"Does that happen a lot?" Darcy asked.

"No, not to me anyway. The bad guys seem to keep their distance from me, I guess they don't think it good for their reputation to eliminate a poor defenseless child. Or, you know, they could have standards.”

"Did something happen?" Owen persisted,

"Yeah, a deadly criminal tried to blow up my new school and waste me."

"Other than that, I mean."

“That's not enough?”

Ophelia didn't speak after that, but finished her salad and left the table for the next class. Owen watched her leave, his mind was filled to the brim with curiosity.

_What isn't she telling us?_

* * *

 

Just as he had two halves, Danny had two jobs. One job was to fight ghosts as Danny Phantom, and then there was his other job, his real job, the one he had dreamed about longer than he can remember. Danny Fenton was an astronaut. Technically, he was given the same shifts in the space station as the rest of the crew and is supposed to stay up there just like they were, but no one complained about him coming home almost every night. It didn’t cost NASA a thing if he used his powers. He used to be fine with staying at the station for six months or so, doing video calls home every night, knowing that he’ll have months free to be with them. But over the past decade, he stayed overnight less and less. Nowadays, only expeditions to other planets could keep him away from his family. Nobody complained, they understood why.

Right now, Danny was in his quarters in the space station, getting a call on the intercom from a very annoyed coworker.

"Your kid is here, Fenton."

Danny raised his eyebrow and checked the clock. It felt like he just got into work and now it was the end of his daughter’s first day of school.

Danny went over to the intercom and pressed down on the call button.

“Okay, let her through.”

“You’re supposed to inform Mission Control before she can come up here.”

“I didn’t even know myself.”

“Please remind her of the protocol, we didn’t design it for you and your kid just so you could ignore it.”

"Thanks, I can handle it from here."

Ophelia walked into his quarters moments later. She said nothing and went straight to plopping down on the couch. Something was wrong.

"How was your first day of school, honey?" He asked, immediately knowing the answer.

"Teacher put me in the spotlight, popular kids tried to use me as a social poker chip, the usual." She was lying on the sofa playing with objects too light to be affected by the room's gravity stabilizer. "You know what wasn't usual? Skulker tried to kill me during lunch."  
Danny’s eyes went wide.

"You’re okay, right?” He rushed to her side and held her face to better inspect her for injuries. “You look okay, but we both heal fast and concussions look okay until they’re not. Did he hurt you? What happened, did he get away?”

“I’m fine, Dad,” she said, swatting away his hands, “I hacked up his suit and turned him over to the police. The worst I got was a little rope burn from the net he tried to trap me in.”

 “Okay, that’s good.” He said. He let himself calm down before continuing, “I thought he said he wouldn't hunt you down until your old enough to be worthy prey?"

"Oh no." Ophelia replied, "not Skulker, Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter. I was nearly killed by Skulker, Ghost Zone's notorious hit man. Apparently assassins don't have age restrictions."

"Who hired him?" Danny pretended to be surprised. He knew who hired him to go after his daughter and he knew exactly why.

"I think we both know the answer to that question, Dad." She drew her attention away from the floating paper clips, showing him her angry, very hurt expression. "Did you know he was here?”

Danny’s heart sank. He turned his eyes towards the window, watching the part of the Earth below them get swallowed by night as the planet turned away from the sun.

"I didn't know for sure. I had Valarie look into it, and of course the Observants have Walker's police force scouring throughout all the Ghost Zone looking for him."

"I guess it takes a gun to a loved one's head for you to figure out that a place is unsafe!" She was trying not to scream. They had this problem before ten years ago. It's what causes them to leave Amity Park in the first place, it's what destroyed Fenton Portal II, and it's what left the crack on her goggles.

“I should have seen this coming. I mean, I knew he would try something but not so soon-“ He turned and say the gleam in Ophelia’s glare. It was scary how much she looked like Sam when she was angry. “No, I would never put you in jeopardy like that, I swear,” He walked over to Ophelia who promptly sat up to give him a spot on the sofa. He put his arm around her had gave her a small hug. “If you want, we can leave right now. We can pack up and move to another town. We’ll move out of the country if we have to. I will never let you or your mother go anywhere if  it wasn’t safe. I will never let _it_ happen again.”

Ophelia pulled out of the hug. She wasn’t angry anymore. There was a different look in her eyes, the same look he’d catch in the mirror.

“I don’t want to leave, Dad. We just to Amity and I already made friends. I don’t want to run away anymore, I want to have a life.”

Danny couldn’t help but smile. Like father, like daughter. The only way he could be more proud is if there wasn’t someone out there endangering his family.

He got up from the sofa and went to the intercom.

"Bolton, I'm calling it in early, can you guys handle everything yourselves."

"Sure thing." said a voice from the intercom, "stay on call just in case. And next time, stick to protocol."

"Alright, Fenton over and out." He picked up his work for home and went up to Ophelia. "Let's get home, I'll cook your favorite for dinner."

"Isn't it my turn to do the cooking tonight?" She asked.

"It's not everyday that you defeat Skulker single-handedly."

With that they vanished from the space station.

 


	3. Smoke and Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Em takes Ophelia to a magic show and they discover the truth behind the magician's tricks.

"Explain to me again why we are watching a magic show." Ophelia demanded of Em who was forcefully dragging her into the Presto Theatre.

"You said you've never been to one, I thought you would like to see one. I actually study magic here on the weekends."

"Really? Let me see something." Honestly, Ophelia didn't really care about magic. But maybe if she could get her hyped enough she wouldn't notice if Ophelia made a disappearance off stage when the show started.

"Certainly." A glittery wand "magically" appeared in her hand, and waved it around. She tapped her free hand and a flower appeared on her palm.

"Amazed?" Em asked her audience of one.

"I would if I couldn't see the little pockets inside your sleeves." said Ophelia with a smirk.

"Awww, you could've at least acted amazed."

"Sorry, but when you can actually fly and makes things appear and disappear out of the air, it's hard to be 'amazed'. Makes you see through all the fakes."

"Then the Fantastic Finn will be a great challenge for you." Em motioned to a poster of the Fantastic Finn. He was a grown man appearing to be in his mid-thirties, he had slick black hair and a black curly-q mustache that made Ophelia have to suppress a giggle. In the poster he wore a black tuxedo accessorized with the stereotypical whites gloves, black cape with red lining, a black top hat, and a red carnation in his lapel. In the poster he was waving a wand and making everything around him float like there was no gravity. "He's is the greatest magician alive or dead. Everyone has tried to discover the illusion but failed. Skeptics, scientists, even fellow magicians have tried to no avail. I bet Houdini's ghost could be outwitted by the likes of The Fantastic Finn."

Ophelia looked with an incredulous raise of her eyebrow. She turned to her friend with a couple of stray giggles.

"Are you sure you’re not over-selling him?"

Em smiled at the non-believer "All right, how about we make a wager? If you can out him as a fake, I'll finish our science project solo."

"And if I somehow can't?" Ophelia said doubtlessly.

Em smiled as menacingly as she could. "You will have to go to Comic-Con with Mick and Wal this summer-“

"Is that all?"

"You didn't let me finish. You have to go to Comic-Con... in the Ghost Girl suit!" her mischievous grin grew wider.

Ophelia faded with flushed cheeks. Even before the Phantom Planet, Danny Phantom had fans. More than enough doubled as comic book fanatics, turning the infamous Ghost Boy into a comic book  hero fighting against his fictional adversaries. One of these comic books was published by a big-time company and was sold worldwide after Phantom Planet. When Ophelia was born, the comic book predicted that she would become her father's sidekick, dubbing her Ghost Girl. This pulp fiction phantom donned a costume two pom-poms shy of a cheerleading uniform. Every year, the comic book company would ask her to promote their book by going to Comic-con in the suit, offering a large sum that grew with every year they offered. The rest of the year the fans of this book would press her to wear it for Halloween or their own design that were even worse to a point that Ophelia could not restrain laughter. Ophelia hated the suit because not only  was it  atrocious but it symbolized a part of the world that could only see her as a future super-hero, and with poor taste in clothing at that.

Ophelia flashed her green eyes bright enough to illuminate the two in green. "I accept your challenge." she said with a smile.

When they went into the theater, a little blue wisp escaped from Ophelia's mouth. She looked around and saw nothing, she felt the ghost close by. _Probably just a ghost going out for a fly._ Ophelia thought. _If not Dad and Auntie Val can handle it themselves._

* * *

 

 The Presto Theatre was pretty small even for a magic theatre; it can only hold thirty in an audience at a time. A full house for one night in this theatre reflects nothing on the magician's performance, but a sold out performance for generations to come can. Em dragged Ophelia to the front row and squeezed her between her and a man who should seriously switch to diet. She was practically freezing in her seat by how cold the theatre was. When she found no warmth in tucking as much of her legs she could fit under her calf-length skirt, she tried to stuff the rest in her rather large aviator jacket. _Hating this already._ She thought, trying not to disappear before the show even started.

"How long is the show supposed to go for?" Ophelia asked her overly enthusiastic friend.

"Only for an hour, but I also got us passes to meet him." With a snap of her fingers, two backstage passes appeared in Em's hands.

Ophelia tried to hold back her irritation. "How did you get those? I thought it was a stretch for you to get just the tickets."

"Let's just say working in a magic theatre has its perks."

 _Joy,_ Ophelia thought, _now I'm going to have to watch a cheesy show and meet the fake._

At that moment, the lights dimmed and the curtains opened. A spotlight shone  as a puff of smoke hid the magician being elevated from a trap door. _Seriously!_

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I am the Fantastic Finn. I have placed it upon myself to entertain you for tonight. When I am done here you will be left in complete awe of tonight's performance."

 _I am in complete awe that Em paid tickets to see this glitterball._ Ophelia thought.

The Fantastic Finn snapped his fingers and a wand dropped into his hands from mid air, astounding the audience. With a wave of his wand a crystal orb floated in front of him. "I shall use this crystal ball to decide who will be my first volunteer. Ah, here we go" he pressed his fingers to a part of the crystal ball and out of a puff of smoke a surprised young man appeared next to the Fantastic Finn.

"Young man, do you wish to assist me in my first trick?" said the magician in a professional manner.

"Um, I guess. I'm already up here." replied the man.

"Good, just lay down on the table under the rows of jagged spikes."

"Okay- wait WHAT?"

Before the guy knew it, he was strapped onto said table as the magician turned a wheel pulling the spikes higher above the petrified man. A black curtain separated the man from audience but put the spikes were very visible.

"These spikes," Fantastic Finn explained, "are made of solid steel. Sharpened to cut through anything, especially flesh and bone. I will cut this rope," he pointed to the rope that held up the spikes as he held an equally sharp hatchet. "And the spikes will plummet onto the poor young man. He will most likely perish. On the count of three: One...two...THREE!"

The Fantastic Finn swung the hatchet, cutting the rope. The spikes dropped down and a loud crash heard behind the curtain. There were screams and then dead silence at what they had just witnessed. Finn took off his cape and held it up next to him. When he dropped his cape, the young man appeared, visibly shaken at his near death experience. The crowd went ballistic.

"Big thanks to my volunteer." Exclaimed the Fantastic Finn. "Sorry about that, hope you're not shaken to bad."

The young man nodded his head in assurance and walked off the stage. The audience applauded as the front row glowed a furious green.

* * *

 

 The show went on with the same amount of applause for the Fantastic Finn and his stellar tricks. An hour later, he announced his finale.

"I shall need one last volunteer from the audience." As soon as he spoke a hand appeared front the front row. It was Ophelia, with a deviant little grin.

"Ophelia, don't." Em whispered, but it was too late. Ophelia startled the magician as she appeared on stage in a green mist.

"I volunteer myself for your final act, Mr. Finn." Ophelia said trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Uh, very well." The magician said while trying to make out the mysterious young girl. "Stand inside that box, if you please."

He directed her into a box with three doors aligned one on top of the other. Once Ophelia was inside, Fantastic Finn closed her in with locks and turned the box. Where he should have stood on the other side, Ophelia was there wearing his hat.

"As you can see," Ophelia said, mockingly, "This is just an ordinary three compartment box. Lets see what happens if we pull the boxes apart."

Ophelia then pulled the middle box from the stack and opened it, showing Finn's torso. She opened another to show his legs with a jocular wolf whistle. She pushed the top box to the direction opposite the torso box and opened it to reveal the red-faced head of the Fantastic Finn.

"Young lady!" Exclaimed Finn's outraged head, "If you don't stop fooling around this instant..!" Ophelia shut the door before he can finish the threat.

"Aww, it's okay Mr. Finn." Ophelia jested. "No need to fall to pieces." The audience laughed at the cheesy pun. _Seriously?_

She then pushed the boxes back together and gave it a hard push with one hard, leaving it to spin rapidly. She stopped the box and opened the door to let out the very dizzy Fantastic Finn. The audience clamoring with laughter and applause.

 _"_ A big round of applause to Mr. Finn everyone!" Ophelia gave herself a few seconds for the roar of applause to die down. "And an even greater round of applause for his lovely assistant."

Ophelia gestured her hand, now glowing green like her eyes, to the air over the audience's head. At that moment the empty space glowed green and formed the shape of a human being. The green glow stopped the reveal a ghost floating over the audience, wide-eyed in surprise. She looked to be a little older than Ophelia and Em _,_ about eighteen or nineteen. She had bright orange hair in a short bob cut that seemed like fire against her bluish-white skin. She was wearing a tuxedo shirt-like leotard with a red sash and bow tie and gold coat with tails. On her head was a little gold top hat with a red band; on her legs were fishnet tights with two inch spat style heels.

"Without her," Ophelia continued, "none of this would have been possible. Thank you all, but my friend has to go home to finish our project. Good night and have a safe drive home." Ophelia disappeared from the stage in the same green mist as before, leaving the audience stunned at what just happened. Em buried her face in her hands in embarrassment as she tried to sneak out of the theater without being noticed.

* * *

 

 Outside, Em met Ophelia. She was  twirling around Fantastic Finn's hat in her hand.

 _"_ What did you do that for!" Em yelled.

 _"_ He was taking credit for someone else's work, he has been this whole time. I couldn't just sit there and let him get away with it. Someone had to teach him a lesson and I thought I should."

 _"_ By humiliating him in front of his audience? Don't tell me you weren't having fun!" Em was outraged that her close friend had just ousted her favorite magician as a fraud. She was more outraged that she lost a bet with said friend and had to work on Tesla's evil project all by herself.

Ophelia smiled her mischievous little smile "Who ever said that lessons couldn't be fun for the teacher? Let's go home, if you want you can come over to my house for dinner. My mom's cooking tofu steak tonight."

"Sure I'll come over," Em said, " _after_ you go over and apologize to Fantastic Finn!"

"Why do I have to apologize to the Fantastic Fraud for?" Ophelia said with a groan. "If anything I should apologize to that poor girl for putting her in the spotlight!"

"You can apologize to both of them if you want. All I know is that I paid to meet the Fantastic Finn, and I'm going to meet the Fantastic Finn with _you_ in tow." Em grabbed Ophelia by the arm and dragged back to the theatre. Ophelia didn't go intangible because she knew Em was right. That and in her two short weeks in Casper High, she found Em to hold heinous grudges.

* * *

 

 Backstage, a crew of people was cleaning up after the show. Glitter was being swept and rabbits were being put back into cages. Two stage hands were resetting the spike table and another was inspecting the three-door box to see if Ophelia tampered with it at all. As Em and Ophelia were being led to Fantastic Finn's dressing room by the stage manager, Ophelia's eyes were met with dark glares of the crew. Ophelia tried not to turn invisible on her walk of shame.

Like all the clichés, Finn's dressing room had a red door with a gold star that had _The Fantastic Finn_ engraved. Ophelia scowled at the door as the stage manager knocked on the door. The door opened and Em dragged Ophelia in.

"Excuse me, sir. " The stage manager said, glaring at Ophelia. " _She's_ here with a friend."

The Fantastic Finn pulled his attention from the mirrors of his dressing room to analyze the girls. He gave Ophelia the respectful glare of a defeated chess player, accepting the defeat but yet unable to understand the manner of it. "Well, well," said Mr. Finn, " If it isn't the girl that ruined my infallible reputation. What brings you here?"

Ophelia avoided eye contact until Em elbowed her into his direction. Her eyes glowed, but the lights of the dressing room mirrors neutralized the emerald light. "I came here to apologize to your assistant." She told the fraud.

" _And_ you, Mr. Finn." Em added in, giving Ophelia an angered look. "She just wanted to show me how the tricks worked and ... got a little carried away when she figured out. She didn't mean to humiliate you to that extreme "

"Sure, _that's_ what happened." Ophelia muttered as she turned herself intangible to avoid Em's elbow.

"Not to worry," replied the magician, "You did something in an hour hundreds of people's lives  have spent years trying to do. I bet if any of my competitors were in your position, they would have done a lot worse."

"Twenty seconds." Ophelia replied.

"Pardon?" Fantastic Finn's composure was starting to falter.

"It took me twenty seconds to see through the ruse. I thought it would be more polite to expose you at the end of the performance so people wouldn't be demanding refunds."

Ophelia noticed a slight twitch of rage in the magician's complexion, but Em didn't seem to notice a thing. Fantastic Finn was about to lose it but somehow he was able to control himself.

"How... considerate of you." Finn responded through gritted teeth. "If you wouldn't mind, I would like to know what gave away my little helper."

Ophelia was about to speak when her ghost sense went off and the ghostly assistant appeared next to the magician. The ghost and the magician was a bit surprised at the sight of the wisp of cold air, Em was a little used to it so all she did was blink.

"That's how," Ophelia explained, pointing at her mouth. "I can sense ghosts when they are near by. As soon as you did your first trick, I sensed her on stage and when she pulled that first  guy from the audience."

The magician's mustache twitched as his eyes narrowed in confusion. The ghost companion seemed to recognize the frizzy-haired youth but seemed unable to put her finger on it. Em finally broke the silence and their concentration.

"She's half ghost." Em explained, "All that stuff she did on stage was her _abusing_ her powers."

"Ah, yes." Said the Fantastic Finn. "Then that must make you the daughter of the world famous Danny Phantom." Ophelia gave a reluctant nod. "Beatrice here was actually one of the ghosts who helped your father save the planet. Weren't you in Antarctica to turn the planet intangible?"

"It was actually the North Pole, sir." Beatrice replied hesitantly.

"Ah yes, right" replied the magician. Beatrice seemed to release some tension at the confirmation, making Ophelia raise an eyebrow.

"So, uh, Beatrice," Ophelia said, "I'm sorry for startling you like that. I know that must not have been something you would have cared for."

"It's o-" was all Beatrice could say before Fantastic Finn had cut her off.

"It was nothing we couldn't handle. Like I said, it could have been worse."

Ophelia's eyes flashed angrily at the magician, this time her furious glow out-shined the dressing room lights.

"I don't think I was talking to you. And I know its part of the act for people not knowing she does all the work, but do you credit her for _any_ of it _at all?_ "

The magician glared at the half ghost in disapproval. "She doesn't need credit, she's dead."

"She has a voice of her own!” Ophelia screeched, “What is her cut of this deal, anyway? Half of the profit? A place to stay?”

"Beatrice does not need anything," Fantastic Finn responded, "she gets to float around and do all her ghostly things and I get the best reputation and career since Harry Houdini. I think it's a great deal."

The whole room turned a vicious green from Ophelia's fury. "I have heard a lot of things in my day, but is the most insensitive thing I have ever had the displeasure of falling onto my ears! According to you, as soon as they have an epitaph their opinions don't matter! How does that even makes sense! I don't think anyone would agree to that! Beatrice," Ophelia drew her attention from the man and to the quiet apparition in the corner. "Are you willingly working for this man? My godmother is with the police and my mom's an ADA, I can help you press charges if this isn't a voluntary agreement."

Beatrice looked at the ground and then at the young girls. She was about to speak and then vanished without a single word. The magician turned to the two girls, fuming as he had done on stage. He called in the security and they appeared at the door waiting to escort the girls.

"I have had enough of you two girls trying to ruin my career. You either leave immediately or these gentlemen shall have to use force. I never want to see you two near this theatre again!"

The guards pulled the girls from the dressing room and showed them the exit. Once outside the door slammed behind them and only the green glow of Ophelia's eyes illuminated the two infuriated girls.

"I guess it's true what they say about meeting your heroes." was Em's response. "He was a total jerk."

"I would call him a narcissistic glitterball." Ophelia replied.

"Well, we better get home. Your parents must be worried and I have to work on our project." Em was leaving and Ophelia followed with her gaze fixed on the theatre.

"I'm coming back here." She told Em, "Next time, I'll have a police force and a warrant."

* * *

 

As soon as Ophelia came home she told her parents everything that happened. They listened intently as their daughter explained the treachery of the Fantastic Fake and the possible ghost abuse of Beatrice.

"Before she could tell me anything she disappeared. I'm telling you, I smell a rat and it has a cheesy mustache."

"Are you sure she didn't say anything?" Asked Sam, "We need probable cause to write up a warrant."

"Mom, he gives her no credit." Ophelia exclaimed, "She's not getting paid, she has nowhere to stay, he never let her say a single word to either of us. He must have abducted her from the Ghost Zone."

As Danny listened to this, he recalled a similar incident of a crazed performer who used ghosts to perform against their will. In that occasion, however, they were mind controlled and there were a lot less sequins.

"That sounds like enough to me," Sam said, "I'll call Valarie and find a judge to sign the warrant tomorrow. We might be able to bust him during his next performance. You'll have to come with us to make the arrest, Ophelia."

"Oh no, I want to keep as much distance from me and that glitterball as humanly and ghostly possible. I did my part by telling you, and I'll even write the report. Why do I have to go with you?"

"You know why, Honey." replied her mother sweetly.

Ophelia looked over to her Dad. "Bystander Contract?" she asked her father.

"Bystander Contract." He told her daughter as the whole family groaned at the words. The Bystander Contract was the Guys in White's last stab at Danny Phantom's nerve before the Bureau shut them down. It made him and whoever possessed ghost powers legally bound to assist the local police with any crime involving ghosts. When Ophelia became twelve and more of her powers started to develop, she was forced to sign the contract along with her father. Her mother was able to water down the contract so that Ophelia didn't have to fight every battle and be on call like Danny. She only has to fight the battles that somehow involve her. The contract also stated that if Ophelia discovered anything wrong involving ghosts, she would have to report it to the police and see it all the way through. In this occasion, because she discovered the crime, she would have to go in with the police and act as back-up if anything goes wrong.

"When will people realize that I am not a superhero, nor do I want to be?" Ophelia stated.

"Could've been worse," Danny said in attempt to cheer her up. "People could see you as a villain and your mom and I would try to rip you apart 'molecule by molecule'."

Ophelia smiled, "No, the worse would be for the public to call me Inviso-Bill." She and her mom snickered and high-fived when she mentioned Danny's old misfortune of a name.

"Sam! You told her!" Danny said in embarrassment.

"No, she can read though." Sam replied with the mischievous smile Ophelia had that very night. The night went on until Ophelia went to bed almost forgetting her encounter with the Fantastic Fake. Almost, but not completely.

* * *

 

Ophelia was followed into the Presto Theatre by two police officers: Detective Valarie Gray and Detective Esther Trinn. They obtained the warrant earlier than Sam had predicted and  arrived mid day instead of at night. When they arrived Fantastic Finn was in the middle of a dress rehearsal with his assistant. Beatrice was juggling bowling pins as Finn was practicing hand gestures to make it look like he's making them levitate. When Beatrice saw the three women enter she lost concentration and dropped the pins.

"You stupid little klutz!" Yelled the magician; "We have a show in five hours. How can I be the Fantastic Finn when bowling pins fall from the air? If you don't get it together I will... oh, hello ladies." he finally noticed the three women behind him.

"Mr. Finn," said Valarie, " I am Detective Gray and this is Detective Trinn. I believe you've met Ophelia." Ophelia mockingly waved at the man with a venomous smile and blazing eyes. "There has been a report of a possible abuse here. We have a warrant granting us the right to investigate the premises... and interrogate the people involved. If we can, we would like to speak with your associate, please."

Finn examined the warrant and with an irritated twitch of his mustache he signaled for Beatrice to fly over. Ophelia thought it looked like she was dragged like a balloon on a string.

"Beatrice," he said, "These officers and this _child_ " he added with as much venom as his composure could permit "would like to ask you a few questions. What do you wish to ask of her?"

"If it's all right with you," said Detective Trinn, "We would like to speak with Beatrice alone."

He was clearly upset with the news but turned on his heels and walked off in compliance.

"Don't go too far," said Detective Trinn, "We'll need to speak with you as well."

As soon as they were sure that he wasn't listening, they turned to Beatrice. Ophelia swore she saw something tugging at Beatrice's ankle. She looked at the officers but they didn't seem to notice anything. Detective Trinn spoke first.

"So... Beatrice, when did you go into business with Mr. Finn there?"

"I am a ghost that personifies the pursuit of stage magic," Beatrice replied "I haunted theatres like these and assist magicians that are tanking on stage and sabotage those that need to be taken down a notch. I encountered the Fantastic Finn when he was starting out. He found me when I was helping him with a show and he offered me a deal. I get to perform my tricks and he gets to be the face in front of them."

"Why don't you perform your own tricks?" asked Ophelia, "I mean, you've got the raw talent and, if you don't mind me saying so, you are way more visually appealing than that glitter ball and his cheesy mustache."

Everyone laughed at that statement; even Beatrice mustered up a giggle.

"I… um… have terrible stage fright. If the spotlight hits me I just disappear."

"You do that too?" Ophelia said excitedly, "I end up doing that when my teachers introduce me to the class. It makes a horrible first impression.”

Beatrice smiled sweetly. Detective Gray asked the big question.

"This deal you made with him. Did you accept this willingly or did he force you into the business?"

Beatrice had a scared look in her eyes. Before she could say anything, something yanked at her ankle violently and she disappeared. The women looked at each other in disbelief.

"I haven't been at the precinct for long, but I don't think that's how ghosts disappear on their own do they?" asked Detective Trinn.

"No, they do not." said Valarie. Before they could speak further, Finn was heading their way, bearing a victorious look on his face.

Valarie turned to Ophelia.

"She’s got to still be here somewhere. You go find her while we talk to Fantastic Fake here."

"On it." said Ophelia and she ran off to look for the ghost. Passing by the Fantastic Finn.

"Sorry about my assistant," he told the officers, "She tends to disappear when she gets nervous."

"Not a problem," said Detective Trinn, "Ophelia's just going to go look for her right now. We still need to ask you some questions."

* * *

 

Ophelia looked into every nook and cranny of the theatre, from the catwalk to the audience seats to the dressing room. After inspecting the various props the ghost could hide in she was about to give up. Then a blue wisp slipped from her mouth when she stood over a trap door on stage. Finding no way to enter like a human she phased through the floor into a dark hallway. There were no lights on and the only thing that illuminated the place was the faint glow Ophelia naturally gave off, only in pitch black would anyone notice this glow and it is ten times handier than a flashlight. Unable to make neither heads nor tail of where to look, Ophelia chose to play hot and cold with her ghost sense. This went on for about five minutes until her sense jerked her towards the right door. Like every door in the spooky hallway, it was locked. She  phased through the door and was shocked at what she saw.

Beatrice was there. Around her ankle was a glowing gold chain that led to oblivion. Ophelia guessed that was what pulled at her earlier. Ophelia tried to pick up the chain, but it shocked her on contact.

"Let me guess, its magically protected from other ghosts?" Ophelia said, irritated at the shock.

Beatrice nodded, "It's the only magic he knows, and all he needs. I cannot use any of my powers unless he wishes it."

"How long have you've been trapped in here?" Ophelia asked with concern.

"Since the day I crossed paths with the Fantastic Finn. When he found me, he tried to make the deal, but I refused. I didn't want him to make a profit out of my magic if he won't even do the work to start with. Then he consulted books on necromancy and found the spell to summon me from the Ghost Zone. He offered me the deal again, and I still refused. He cast another spell and a golden chain bound me to him. I had no choice but to accept his deal then."

"You had a home in the Ghost Zone?" Ophelia asked.

"My own realm, my own door. I haven't seen it in years, it must be in absolute turmoil by now." She was saddened at the thought of her home a complete wasteland without her.

"Not to worry, Trix," Ophelia assured, "I'll get you out of here and you can return to your realm and it will be good as new."

Beatrice looked at her, confused.

“What did you call me?”

Ophelia blushed, a little embarrassed.

“Trix, with an x? Isn't that the short version of your name?” A little faster and a little quieter, she added “It also sounds kind of cool since you're a magician and all.”

Beatrice smiled at this new name "Trix. I like Trix, it's cute. You can call me Trix.”

Ophelia gave a meek smile before her expression turned to one of anger.

"And we can call you jailbird after your arrested." Ophelia turned to the magician standing at the opened doorway. He was twirling his wand with a menacing smile on his face.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked mockingly, "You are the only one who knows about this place. It will take them hours to discover this hallway let alone this room. Enough time for Beatrice to transport me into a completely different town."

"And what about me?" Asked Ophelia, half knowing the answer. "What will keep me from busting this little operation in five seconds?"

Finn smiled and snapped his fingers. A gold chain sprouted from the air and ensnared Ophelia in a fashion similar to a tried to phase out of the chains in vain but continued to struggle.

"You do realize, dear child," said the magician, "That you are worth over a billion dollars dead and twice that alive. With that money I can retire and have her cater to my every whim for the rest of my life. The only question to me is whether I should keep you alive and let the him have the pleasure of killing you or whatever he wants you for."

"Might as well kill me, I'll never go near that creep so long as I’m alive." Ophelia said, eyes burning in rage. She curled up into a ball as her energy grew enough to visible see and then released it explosively, breaking the chains.

"As you wish, my dear." He took the white carnation from his lapel and tapped it a couple of times before dropping it to the ground. When the white flower turned red, Ophelia backed away as if she had just seen a spider. The flower took root into the ground and spread black thorny vines. Ophelia recognized the vines and became paralyzed with fear.

“No”

The vines formed a circle around her making her unable to leave if she ever regained her senses to fly. The vines started to bud and the original flower morphed into what looked like a blood red rose. It was not a rose.

 It was a blood blossom.

Ophelia buckled to the ground in agony. The buds started to bloom revealing more blood blossoms; with every one she was given more and more pain. It felt like flaming thorns were digging into every nerve of her body as a ten thousand volt current went through her. Marks started to show through her skin, scars in the shape of blood blossoms and their thorny vines. They were all over her face and arms, every exposed parts of her skin revealed the painful marks. Beatrice was horrified at the sight as well as confused, none of the blossoms were near enough to make contact. Finn blinked a little in surprised but his evil smile never left. Ophelia tried to scream but the pain was too much for her to even gather the energy. Even losing consciousness was impossible, leaving her to wait until her heart can no longer take the shock.

Beatrice could not handle the sight, trying and failing to look away.

“Stop it!” She cried, “For goodness sake, she’s just a kid.”

“She’s not a kid,” Finn said, “She’s a halfbreed, a mistake nature should not have made. And I am going to get a billion dollars to fix that mistake.”

Beatrice couldn’t stand it. If she got imprisoned, fine, but she wasn’t going to stand anyone else getting hurt. Least of all a kid. She found her strength to fight back. She shot a ghost ray at the circle of blossoms, causing them to catch fire. Eventually the whole plant, buds and all, were consumed in a roaring flame.

Finn stood back from the flame. He glared back furiously at his assistant and prepared for another spell. Before the spell could be conjured, Beatrice shot the wand with her ghost ray. The wand broke, and along with it her gold chain. The ghost smiled as she felt all her powers surge back into her.

Ophelia's scars faded with the absence of the blood blossoms. She took a relieving gasp of air only to choke on the smoke. She didn't have to worry about the flowers anymore, just the wildfire that threatened to burn everyone inside the theatre. Ophelia grabbed the Fantastic Fiend, out cold from Beatrice summing up years of payback, tied him up in ecto-rope and flew the both of them out of the theatre and on the street. She was about to go after Gray and Trinn until she found them by their car alerting the fire department.

"Is everyone okay?" Ophelia asked detective Trinn.

She nodded, "We were looking for the Fantastic Freak over there after he ran off until we saw smoke rising from the floor. We made sure everyone was out and safe when we realized you three were still in there."

When Detective Gray finally finished her call she looked at the unconscious magician and then at her goddaughter.

"Should I add arson to the charges?" She asked.

"No, that was me," Beatrice admitted, "I was burning a few weeds and it got out of hand."

"You can add attempted kidnapping and attempted murder to the charges, though." Ophelia added.

"More than happy to." said Valarie with enthusiasm. "The guy didn't even have an original plot, a human was exploiting ghosts for entertainment back when I was a teenager."

"Only the ghosts were brainwashed and there was a lot less ." Ophelia added, remembering the conversation with her parents last night.

"Will you be okay, Beatrice?" asked Valarie with genuine concern, "Do you have a place to stay or anything?"

“Yes, actually, I have my own realm in the Ghost Zone that needs to be tended to. Do you need me for any court dates?"

"Mrs. Fenton will let you know." Replied Detective Gray, "She won't be the prosecutor, unfortunately, but she'll be keeping a close eye on the case. I can assure you that."

With that Ophelia opened a portal to the Ghost Zone. Beatrice was about to exit through it when she stopped and turned back.

“Oh, and call me Trix,” She smiled to Ophelia, “with and ‘x’”

Ophelia returned the smile with a bashful one of her own. And with that, the newly dubbed Trix returned to the Ghost Zone for the first time in decades.

 When Finn was in the car and on his way to jail and the fire department had arrived, Ophelia was excused by Valarie to go home and get some rest. She did so happily and went straight home and straight to bed. She slept peacefully knowing that Em was handling the project due tomorrow and that she never has to wear the Ghost Girl suit.

 


	4. Devil's Gate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophelia takes Trix to meet a friend in the Ghost Zone.

The Ghost Zone is an infinite and mysterious place. It defies every law the human plane abides. The volume of this cosmos is indefinite, as it constantly shrinks and grows at its own will. It's as if the Ghost Zone is a sentient being itself, living, breathing, feeding off the very existence and emotions of its inhabitants.

Two inhabitants in particular were having a heated argument so great that their realm, hidden behind the door you would find in an eighties dive bar, bent aggressively around in hideous shades of red and brown.

"You are not going out with that Phantom girl!" screamed the boy, focusing on his girlfriend instead of repairing his precious motorcycle.

"Why not!" said the girl indignantly, "She's a good girl, I get her in more trouble than she could ever put me in. And besides, you were good friends with Danny if I recall."

"You were better friends if I remember."   
"That was only to make you jealous, and nothing ever happened! One fling over the thousands of girls you've been drooling over the past forty years."

Leaving him speechless, she smiled. "Got nothing to say about that?"

He then looked up in worry, "We both know there's a hit out for her head, Baby Doll. I just don't want to get hurt in the crossfire."

She was truly touched by his words. She knew well enough he wasn't any kind of poet, only charming and, if you can get past the greasy hair and grungy clothes, good looking. But just the way he said his words, a way where she knew he truly meant them, spoke greater volumes than any verse. It was one of the many reasons she fell in love with him, after all.  
A split second later, concern for her living friend washed over her.

"That's another thing: Skulker wasn't the only one he hired. There are ghosts and humans that are going to go after her. We should at least warn her about the hit."

The boy was obviously annoyed that his charm failed. " _We_ don't have to do anything! That little ecto-brat can handle herself and daddy dearest will go ape on any one who lays a pinky on his kid. _We_ don't need to stick out necks for a girl who was doomed from day one!"

Incensed by her boyfriend's apathy, she turned to the door.

"Oh, Babe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it like that.”

Her hand was on the door when she turned her head towards him. "I'm not planning to be her babysitter again or anything, I just want to spend one night with her. We'll be at the Devil's Gate,”she slammed the door behind her. A split second later she opened it again and stuck her head in. “And don't even think about having your stupid shadow follow me!” And she slammed the door again.

The boy went back to his bike as a form of meditation, even if didn't believe in the “guru karma garbage” as he put it. His shadow came alive and formed right next to him, awaiting the next command.

"Not this time, Shadow." he spoke to the inaudible umbra. "We should let her handle herself. It will be better for her if she scares herself away from the ecto-brat."

Shadow then looked at the door, his green circles for eyes formed into a shape of concern. The boy looked at his shadow worried. If an entity of pure misfortune showed worry, then there must be something to worry about.

"Fine, but don't follow Kitty. She'll have my head for it. Follow Ophelia, we both know that's where the trouble starts."

With that, Shadow melted into where the ground would be and slithered through the door.

* * *

 

 "Where are we going again?" Trix inquired of her new friend. She was sitting on the bed of her friend’s home, watching her friend get ready for the night.

"It's called Devil's Gate, it's a rock night club for teens. The name actually came from an old rock song from the seventies." Ophelia was putting on a hoop earring by her mirror.

"I thought this place was in the Ghost Zone?" Trix asked.

"It’s for ghost teens," said Ophelia. "Dead kids _love_ to rock out. Including halfas like me."

"I suppose," Trix agreed. "When do I get to see this friend of yours, anyhow?"

"Kitty?" Ophelia was applying her eye-liner and couldn't fix her gaze at her friend, "We'll be meeting her there. Her boyfriend forbids her from coming near our place."

"Why's that?"

"He thinks we’re cursed. Ironic since he's the one with the bad luck shadow."

Just then a blue wisp flew form her lips. Ophelia scanned the room only to find Trix and her black shadow looming on the bed.

"Speak of the devil." she said as she flicked a spark of light onto the shadow. When the spark made contact the shadow twitched as one would do when pricked by a needle. At seeing this, Trix bolted off the bed as Shadow arose on the spot she had just sat.

"Is this the shadow you spoke of?" Trix said with surprise.

"Yep," Ophelia said. She turned to the dark apparition. "I'm guessing Johnny doesn't trust me around ‘his girl’ and sent you to follow me. Right?"

Somehow, the two-dimensional being managed to nod his head in confirmation.

"Seriously!” Ophelia said with annoyance thickly spread on every syllable. “He’s known me forever, if anything _I_ should be the mistrustful one." She paused for breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Ugh, whatever, fine. You can follow me around as my shadow for tonight, but if Kitty finds you, you and 13 are on your own."

With a fanged grin, Shadow leaped into the spot Ophelia's shadow would have been, had not the soft light of the room diffused it. Ophelia then got up and tested her pseudo shadow against the wall. He formed himself around every detail of her body to make the perfect silhouette, and then faded in opacity to match the amount of light against his subject.

Ophelia whistled.

"I have to admit, the guy knows how to blend into his surroundings"

* * *

 

When both girl, ghost, and shadow were ready, Ophelia opened a ghost portal with a snap of her fingers and they entered. As soon as Ophelia set foot on the alternate reality, two white rings formed at her waist and then moved up and down, turning her raven black hair snow white, and her flashing green eyes into glowing purple. Her skin tanned and her body glowed like her ghostly friend next to her.

Trix was startled at this change and Shadow altered his density to the new light.

"Why did you change form?" Trix asked, a new pair of purple eyes flashed at her.

"Hmm? Oh you mean this?" pointing to her hair and eyes. "It's a natural reflex I have. Since I can't separate my ghost half from my human half like my dad can, my body naturally charges form to fit my surroundings….at least, that’s what we think happens. I can change back if I want to, but this will always be how I naturally look in the Ghost Zone. I don't bother. I honestly don't care how I look either way."

"Do you think this will change when you divide your halves successfully?"

Ophelia averted her eyes from Trix.

"I can't. I’m not like my Dad, there isn’t anything to separate. And trying would…end me.”

Trix looked at her hybrid friend nervously.

"I’m sorry, that was insensitive of me."

“It’s okay, you didn’t know.”

“I’m not sure if it’s my place to ask this, but are you sure that’s something you should say so openly? With a life like yours, words like that could be dangerous if fallen onto the wrong ears.”

Ophelia had a pang of regret, and responded to her friend with a little stress. "I know you’re a good person, you wouldn't do anything to hurt me if you can help it."

"How do you know that? We've only known each other for a few days."

Ophelia's eyes flashed brightly at her friend. Trix felt like those eyes were digging into her very being and reading every secret she ever kept. "I’m just a great judge of character. I only associate myself with people I know would make good friends, and I've never been wrong so far."

Trix looked down at the floor at the third party projecting Ophelia's form.

"What about him?" she asked pointing at Shadow.

Ophelia looked down.

"Eh, he can't talk. And he knows that if anything happened to me my dad will toss him into the sun."

Shadow broke his character at that point to shudder at the thought of the deadly exposure to light.

After an awkward silence, Ophelia led the way to a red door molded and painted into the shape of a metal rod gate. Outside was Kitty, Ophelia ran up to her on sight.

"Kitty!" Ophelia exclaimed to her friend.

"Phé!" Kitty screamed at the sight of her friend. They hugged as if they haven't seen each other in years rather than months. After a few moments they broke their embrace and turned to Trix.

"Is this your new friend?" Kitty asked the snow-haired teen.

"Kitty, I like you to meet the newly independent Miss Beatrice the Amazing. But she likes to be called Trix."

"Pleasure to meet you Trix." said Kitty as she shook hands with the copper-haired ghost.

"The feeling's mutual, Kitty." said Trix politely.

"Shall we go in?" asked Ophelia.

"Let's" Both Kitty and Trix replied.

* * *

 

 Devil's Gate, being a ghostly realm, somehow merged every form and style of rock seamlessly into one place. It blended in a British underground rock club with a Sunset Boulevard nightclub during the seventies with an casual American dive bar. There was a stage for bands to perform any variation of rock (but it would usually play the classics). There where tables and a bar area where people could sit and have a couple of drinks, though the bar was more of a formality and a force of habit, like most human things that ghosts do.

Ophelia and Kitty automatically took their usual table closest to the dance area. Trix followed soon after she examined the place, seating herself opposite to the close friends.

"So Trix," Kitty said to the quiet girl, "Phé told me that you haven't been in the Ghost Zone for a while."

"She did, did she?" Trix said skeptically, Ophelia just gave a shrug. "Well, Ophelia has told me a little about you too, like how your boyfriend has a second shadow over you." Ophelia's eyes glowed violet in protest, the color emphasized by her black eye-liner. Shadow squirmed a little, but not enough for anyone (especially Kitty) to notice.

"Is that so?" Kitty looked at Ophelia slyly and started to laugh. "It's okay, she has a little issue with keeping secrets. She knows how to keep big ones, like the ones that could do serious damage if they fall onto the wrong ears. The little ones don't go through her filter well."

"Well, you're no better." Ophelia retorted in a jocular tone.

Kitty looked at her friend in an equal jocular glare. "When have I ever given away any of your secrets?"

"How about the time when you told my school that I skipped class and let a duplicate take my place. I missed the whole lesson and I still got an A on Mr. Darwin's pop quiz."

"Yeah sorry about that, I didn't know your duplication powers wasn't public knowledge. You probably wouldn't have to sign the Contract if I didn't tell them."

Ophelia nearly hissed at the words but managed to shrug instead. "It's alright, I can't stay mad at you."

They laughed a little and Ophelia got up from the table.

"I'm going to go get us some drinks, what would you guys like?"

"I'll take a soda." said Kitty.

"I'll take a malt, please." said Trix with Kitty blinking at her before realizing that Trix must be from a time before soda.

"Two sodas and a malt," said Ophelia, "I'll be right back." she headed to the bar to get the drinks, leaving Trix and Kitty alone with each other.

"So Trix," Kitty said to the timid ghost, "how did you meet Ophelia?"

"Nothing too big," said Trix, "she recused me from slavery by an insane magician with a cheesy mustache."

"The usual," Kitty laughed

"And how did you become friends?" asked Trix.

"I knew her parents back when they still were clueless teens." Explained Kitty, "I had Johnny help me possess her aunt's body since he fried mine in the Fenton Portal. We started a friendly antagonistic relationship with the Fentons ever since. I was actually Ophelia's babysitter back when she was little. Well, littl _er_."

Trix thought this would be a perfect time to ask what was bothering her since her escape.

"Did you ever notice, when you were babysitting her, certain marks on her skin?"

Kitty's smile quickly faded and her face darkened.

"You mean the scars. Yeah, when she was little they were actually stuck on her all the time. Somehow she managed to heal enough for them to disappear. It was taboo to mention them but I knew what had happened."

"What?" asked Trix with worry.

Kitty looked up from the table, her eyes pained to mention them.

"If it's alright with you, I'd rather not talk about it. Not only would it be a betrayal of her trust but the pain of the experience she had went through is so potent that just listening to the story hurts…” she looked out, not staring out anywhere in particular. “The things some are capable of doing, and to a child no less, it makes you lose faith….” Her eyes flicked back to Trix, as if remembering she was still there. “Honestly, you're better off not knowing.”

Trix seemed to understand, but she still held great concern for her friend. If what happened to Ophelia was worse than what she had seen back in the Presto Theatre, maybe she _was_ better off.

"The scars weren't as bad," Kitty said, an unenthusiastic smile on her face, "after you spend a little time with her you forget they are there at all.” Her smile got just a little bit warmer. “She’s got some heck of a personality, gets it from her mother. She can grab the room by the ear and pull them towards her without even trying. Sometimes I wish Johnny and I had a little rugrat of our own, and that they were like her.”

They were back on lighter subjects when Ophelia returned with their drinks and three coins

"What are these for?" asked Trix. Ophelia and Kitty smiled as they picked their coins from the table.

"They're for the jukebox." said Kitty.

"What jukebox?" The moment Trix asked, a little jukebox machine appeared right by her. "Oh"

"Pick a song," Said Ophelia as she flipped through the selection. "stick the coin in and the band will play it as a request." Ophelia then picked the song "People are Strange"  and stuck the coin in as she had just instructed. As soon as the last song ended, the band played the requested song without any hesitation. The band sounded exactly like the Doors as if the band themselves were possessing the group and giving a "live" performance for them. Trix was amazed at the sight, she was reminded even more that she has been gone from the Ghost Zone for way too long.

Kitty seemed to be reading her mind because she then asked "Do you have your own realm?"

Pulled back from her thoughts she replied "Yes, I do."

"It must have gone to ruin in your absence." Kitty said and then stared at her drink when Ophelia's eyes glowed at her.

"It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would've been. All I really had to do was a little weed trimming and bookcase dusting. It's still not completely cleaned up but I can at least live in there...for lack of a better word."

"We'd love to come over when you fixed up the place." Ophelia said with a warm smile. "I want to see what you call home. We can always help you with the cleaning too." Kitty didn't look too happy on cleaning someone's house."Well, I can always help you, anyway."

"Thanks," said Trix, "but I can handle it myself. Besides, my place is a little shy so it won't let you clean if it doesn't know you well. It's already got abandonment issues, making it hard for me to clean."

"I understand," said Ophelia, "I have realm of my own. I know how hard it is to manage it, especially when it absorbs your moodiness."

Kitty and Trix were both wide-eyed in surprise. "You have a realm in the Ghost Zone?" they said simultaneously.

"Yeah…well, technically it's my Dad’s realm. He got it when the Observants gave him dual citizenship in the Ghost Zone. Sometimes, though, I think it likes me better. Or maybe it's my Dad’s paternal instinct rubbing off on it, which I guess still counts as it liking me better.”

"Why didn't you ever tell me you had your own realm?" asked Kitty, surprised her close friend could keep such an amazing secret from her.

"I thought I already did." Ophelia shrugged, "Well it isn't hard to miss. The only part of my dad that stuck is his emblem on the door. My family has a little habit of putting their names on everything."

Kitty laughed knowing what Ophelia was referring to. Like his parents, Danny had said tendency to put his name on anything he had made or improved. Instead of a car or a baseball bat with the word "Fenton" on it, he would mark whatever ghostly work with the DP emblem. The emblem would even be stuck on a bad guy if the fight was so spectacular that he had to let people know who the guy went up against. That is the only form of show boating Danny allowed himself to do when crime fighting. Ophelia never really inherited this trait. Instead, she tried her best not to leave any trace of herself. The last thing she wanted was attention, and she tried her best never to get it. Which, as Kitty knew from experience, was nowhere near good enough.

* * *

 

They had been there for a while, they nearly lost track of the time. Ophelia nearly forgot about Shadow but a a couple of squirms when the lights hit him reminded her of the fourth party at the table. Kitty and Trix were getting along faster than Ophelia could've imagined, and she was glad. She needed them to be friends so Trix would have someone in the Ghost Zone to go to.

The three of them each picked a song from the jukebox and now wanted another round. Ophelia got up from the table to purchase more coins from the bar. When she got there she felt an eerie presence. This isn't the eerie presence one would get from a ghost, that would be silly to feel such a way in the Ghost Zone. This is the eerie presence of someone that she didn't know was watching her. That someone was at the edge of the bar. If she wasn't having such a great time with her friends, Ophelia would have noticed them. The person was a woman about her parents age (who unlike then actually showed it) with red hair and purple eyes. Ophelia could tell the woman was human, but that didn't make her any less worried. Ophelia got the coins, trying not to stare too much at the woman as she returned to the table. As soon as she put the coins down a laser was shot directly at her. Ophelia was able to dodge it by an inch and the laser blasted the table behind her startling the ghost seated there. Ophelia turned to find, to no surprise, that the red haired woman had shot the blast from a gun strapped to her wrist.

Everyone started to flee the club as soon as the first shot was fired. Ophelia turned to the tender and was about to tell him to notify the police when she remembered that ghosts try to avoid the police as much as possible. Especially since Walker heads the police department in the Ghost Zone and would quite possibly throw the caller in jail for some minor rule he would make up on the spot.

She turned to her friend Trix "Get the Police!" she demanded and Trix was on her way. The red haired woman tried to shoot at Trix, but she managed to dodge and slip through the door before another shot could be fired.

"Let me guess," Ophelia told the red haired woman, "You're after me for the bounty."

The woman smiled "How did you guess?" she said in a mocking tone.

"Am I really worth a billion dollars to him? I'm touched." Ophelia put up a shield to block another hit as she said this.

"Your corpse is worth a billion, the bounty is double for the person who takes you in alive." the woman pulled out what looked like a red version of the Fenton Wraithe Rangler and tossed a lasso at Ophelia. Ophelia grabbed the lasso so it wrapped around her wrist and used it to pull the woman off balance and swung her around. When she let go the woman flew into the empty stage and land right into the abandoned drum set.

"There are a thousand drum puns I can do right now, but they are too lame to even mention." Ophelia said.

"Looks like someone's getting beat." Kitty said, oblivious of Ophelia's statement.

"Like that one." Ophelia said annoyed.

The woman picked up a cymbal and tossed it at Ophelia. The cymbal passed harmlessly through her without her having to turn herself intangible.

"I'm half human, you know that right?" Ophelia said in response to the woman's surprise "Humans are intangible to anything in the Ghost Zone and so am I. If you wanted to capture a half-human in the Ghost Zone, you should have known that."

The woman smiled.

"I do."

The cymbal cut through a rope and an ecto-net dropped on Ophelia trapping her. When she tried to break out, the woman pushed a button on her wrist and a electrical current zapped Ophelia. She walked over to her and bent down to eye level.

"I was trained by the best and have been catching ghosts for twenty-four years. I have caught bigger and more powerful ghosts than some whiney little teenager with ectoplasm in her chromosomes. You are coming with me, whether you like it or not. And if you have any sense, you won't."

She was about to grab Ophelia when a ghost ray hit her  in the shoulder and knocked her across the room. The shot was made by Kitty.

"I'm guess you aren't that good if you forgot about the whiney teenager's friend." she retorted to the woman.

“Banter later. Rescue now, please." Said Ophelia, still struggling under the electric net. Kitty ran over and tried to pull the net off of Ophelia, only to be shocked by the current.

"No use, can't touch it." Kitty said.

"Does this place have a basement?" Ophelia asked.

"They must to stash some of their equipment."

"Perfect." with that Ophelia phased through the floor, leaving her "shadow" behind.

The woman got up and hit Kitty with her wrist laser, now set to work as a tazer. Kitty fell to her knees from the shock.

"There's no money in it for me if I destroy you, not that ghosts can be destroyed." the woman said "But it will be very enlightening to see what happens to a ghost when their energy is completely zapped from them." The woman reset the laser and shot at Kitty, now screaming as the laser ate away at her physical form.

Ophelia phased through the floor and floated to the net. The net glowed with her hand and was lifted to the air. She commanded "Get her" to the freed shadow on the ground. Shadow slithered across the floor and pounced on the woman knocking her to the ground. The wrist laser broke when hitting the ground and the ray zapping Kitty disappeared. Ophelia went to her friend to see if she was fine, and they both watched as Shadow was giving the woman a royal beat down.

"What's the matter," Ophelia taunted, "Can take down ghost ten times your size but can't handle their shadow."

"I told Johnny not sick his stupid shadow on me." Kitty said, eyes glued to the fight.

"Technically Shadow was following me around and I'm pretty glad he did. Saves me a lot of energy."

"Do you think we should kill the lights before she figures out he's photophobic?"

"On it." Ophelia then used her ghost ray to blast every spotlight on the stage and on the dance floor so all that was left were the dim lights of the club, completely harmless to Shadow and allows the girls to watch the fight before the police can arrive.

* * *

 

By the time GZPD arrived the woman was tied up in rope Ophelia had produced with her ghost energy, already finished with her long winded speech about seeking revenge on the girls for defeating her and having her arrested.

Trix was there with the police as well as Danny Phantom, who was called up by Walker as soon as he heard the word "Fenton" in the same sentence as the word "assassin". He was at his daughter’s side before he set his feet on the ground.

“Are you okay? Is she okay?” He said to Ophelia and Kitty respectively while checking on Ophelia for injuries.

“Whatever cuts and bruises she may have gotten are gone now and as far as can see there's no concussion or anything like that.” Kitty said, far too used to these lines of questioning from her babysitting days. “Honestly, I think I got it worse than she did, thanks for asking.”

“Are you sure? She looks flushed.”

“That's because you're embarrassing me.” Ophelia grumbled.

“Well excuse me for being concerned when his child gets nearly killed three times in one month.”

“You're excused,” Ophelia said dryly.

 Danny gave her a stern look that warmed into a smile and a hug.

“I'm glad you're okay.” He said.

“Kitty!”

 Johnny came through the doorway, pushing his way through GZPD officers as a greasy-haired blur until he made it to Kitty’s side. She didn't get a chance to greet him before ensnared her in a long kiss and worried embrace.

“I rode straight here the minute I heard sirens pass by our realm.” He said as soon as he pulled away, “What happened?”

“I'm fine, Johnny,” she said, after a momentary daze from the sudden display of affection. “Just a little out of shape from the fight, but I'll be good in the morning.”

“I told you this would happen.” Johnny said, partly angry, partly scared, partly glad to be in those rare moments where he's right.

“And I told you not to sic your stupid shadow on me,” Kitty snapped back.

“I didn't, I had him follow Ophelia.”

“Do I look like I care about semantics!”

“You should, since it just saved your afterlife!”

 “How about we leave the happy couple to their bickering,” Danny said, “You don't want to get caught in their spats.”

“Don't have to tell me twice.” Ophelia said, racing after her father.

When Danny approached the woman they immediately recognized each other.

"Phantom." said the woman in disgust.

"Well if it isn't Vivian Redd, or would you rather go by Vid." replied Danny to the former member of Masters' Blasters.

"I go by Vendetta now." said the woman.

"That's a silly name." Danny said, eyebrow raised. "Who would you seek revenge on?"

"If it weren't for your little quibbles with Masters, I wouldn't have risen to the top to fall rock bottom in the trash heap."

"That's a perfectly sane reason to don the name Vedetta and try to kill me." Ophelia said with an eye roll and a heavy coat of sarcasm.

When Vendetta was hauled away Ophelia looked around the Devil's Gate and realized that it was in shambles.

"This place won't be open for a while." Danny said while looking around with his daughter.

"It's a crying shame too." Ophelia said "I like this place. It'll be bankrupt when they finally put this place together."

"There's a beauty in the Ghost Zone, Ophelia. When a realm is well liked and leaves an imprint on people, it heals itself based on that imprint."

At that moment, the place seemed to be putting itself together as the shattered glass vanished and the broken furniture started to put itself back together again.

"Is Johnny okay with you hanging around Kitty again?" asked Darcy.

Ophelia was now at school and she had just explained to her friends what had occurred over the weekend.

"Probably not,” Ophelia explained, “They were still arguing by the time we left, but most likely scenario has me not allowed to breathe the same air as her.  But that doesn't mean I'll never see her again, she does her own thing."

"This Vendetta chick, was she really put away?"

"Yes, she's in Walker's jail right now in the Ghost Zone. Once they finish with the courts they'll trade her off with Skulker and take her to a prison in the Human Plane."

"Aren't you worried, Ophelia?" asked the very concerned Owen. "Three people have tried to kill you in the past month. This bounty thing is serious, What if one of these guys actually succeed?"

Ophelia hid her surge of concern with a smile. "If the person behind all of this is who I think he is, then he won't hire anyone that can actually kill me. He wants me alive, I don't know why but he does. He'll pick someone who will be good enough to either capture me or make me go insane enough to turn myself in. My family can manage, we've been through worse. You don't have to worry about me."

* * *

 

At the Thirteenth Precinct and at Walker's Prison at the same time, two prisoners were being swapped for appropriate incarceration. One Vivian Redd was to be transferred to the Human Plane and one tiny Skulker to be transferred to the Ghost Zone. This was the plan at least. However, three ghostly vultures broke into Walker's Prison and took away both prisoner's from the vicinities.

Once far enough away in the Ghost Zone and released from their cuffs, both hunters asked the three very old birds why they were sent to break them out. They responded by saying it was part of the Boss's plan. When pressed further, one of the birds gave each of the hunters a communication device. They will be called when they are needed and shall await further instructions until then.

The hunters looked at each other knowing who organized their escape. It was the same man who had hired them in the first place. They knew when they were given their orders, it will somehow involve the Fentons once again.

 


	5. Dog Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophelia tries out for the track team.

Owen peaked over the fence and scanned the backyard of 648 Willow Street. He found Ophelia in the greenhouse, tending to the plants with her mother. He still couldn’t believe of how Ophelia was able to build a greenhouse and cultivate plants inside in such a short amount of time. He even saw her build the house with her mother everyday after school and was amazed at how fast she was able to put it together, it was like there were four of her. The instantaneous plant growth wasn't too big of a leap considering he saw her revive a dying apple tree. Mrs. Fenton only allowed Ophelia to use her ghost powers on half the plants, she explained once, mainly the flowers. Ophelia only had the power for a couple of months so none of the Fentons were completely sure if it was safe to eat crops handled by Ophelia's ectoplasm. The apples were tested and came out clean, but new ghost powers tend to be inconsistent. Needless to say, none of the neighbors were knocking on their doorstep for freshly picked apples.

Owen hopped the fence and knock at the door of the green house. Sam turned to the boy.

"Hello Mrs. Fenton, hey Ophelia." he greeted.

"Hello Owen," replied Mrs. Fenton, "Do you wish to help us in here?"

"No thank you," said Owen, "my mom doesn't allow me near plants after I killed all of her prized daffodils. I wanted to see if Ophelia would want to come grab lunch at the Nasty Burger with me.” He caught how it sounded the moment the words escaped from his mouth. Blushing, flustered, he added, “I-I mean, I'm meeting up with the rest of the gang there and wanted to know if she wanted to come."

Mrs. Fenton smiled and turned to her daughter, who was busy watering the plants.

"Ophelia, Honey" she said "Do you want to go over to the meet with friends at the Nasty Burger?"

"Hmm," Ophelia said, "Oh, hello Owen. Sure, I'll go with you. Is that all right with you Mom."

"No problem at all. Have fun."

Ophelia got up and turned intangible to shake the dirt off of her. She grabbed a couple of apples from the tree and offered one to Owen who took it happily... once she explained it was safe. Mrs. Fenton watched as they walked on. She couldn't help but laugh at the poor boy, she's seen that awkwardness before. A long time ago.

"Clueless"

* * *

 

On the way there Owen looked at Ophelia. She was wearing a green flannel shirt with denim shorts, Her raven hair was pulled back into a ponytail showing her glittering green eyes. Nothing of her appearance surprised him accept for her lack of sweat.

"Ophelia." Owen said.

"Yes Owen?" replied Ophelia

"Why aren't you sweating? It's the biggest heat wave of the year and you’re not sweating. I'm sweating like a pig over here." he immediately regretted drawing her attention to his sweatty, stinky shape.

"Pigs can't sweat," Ophelia said in a slight monotone "they don't have sweat glands and therefore can't sweat. As for me, my body runs naturally cooler than everyone else. My Dad said it's because I have an ice core and will eventually develop cryokinesis." Owen stared blankly, "Ice powers."

"Oh." Owen said. Although he’s known Ophelia for a couple of months as a neighbor and a best friend, he knows very little about her. He's come to notice, at least, that she is smart. He also learned that when she doesn't like to talk about something she talks about trivial things to avoid the subject. He wondered if it was because she is somehow unable to lie, but then decided it best to ignore a lot of her unique traits since they lead to questions he knows she won't answer.

At that moment a car flew right in front of them, followed by Danny Phantom who rammed against the car leaving a massive dent on the roof. He got up into the air, hands glowing and ready to jump back into the fight.

"Hi Dad," Ophelia said while she waved.

"Hi Ophelia," He waved is ecto-charged hands to her.

"Who is it this time?"

"Technus, he decided to crash an electronics convention."

"Is Valarie here with you?"

"Valarie was here before me. She knew this was coming. Hello Owen."

Owen just waved dumbfounded.

"So where are you going? Hold on... be right back." Danny flew back into the fight and in his place he tossed a large Technus robot against a building, shattering the windows.

"You think you defeat Technus, Master of Technology, from taking control of all the new gadgets to conquer the world?"

"Dude!" Ophelia yelled at the possessed machine. "What ever happened to that 'not giving away the master plan' upgrade thing you keep talking about? We're not even fighting you and we now know the evil plot."

Danny intervened before Technus could reply. He zapped the machine and pulled out the ghost within. He used a modern version of the Fenton Thermos (It looks nothing like a thermos other than its cylindrical shape) to trap him.

"So..." Danny tried to back track to the previous conversation. "Where are you guys off to again?"

"The Nasty Burger." Ophelia replied sweetly. "Wanna come?"

"Sorry Honey, I can't. I'm still working at the station and will have to fly back there as soon as I sort things out with the Precinct."

"It's okay, just don't get home late tonight. It's your turn to cook dinner tonight."

"That's a deal, bye Ophelia. Bye Owen." Danny then flew over to the police to hand over Technus.

Ophelia turned to the still dumbfounded Owen.

"Shall we go?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, sure." Owen snapped back and started walking with Ophelia. "I'm still not used to having superheroes as next door neighbors."

"Not what you expect from the girl next door, is it?" Ophelia teased, Owen trying hide his blushing cheeks. "And it's superhero, singular. I don't do that, remember."

"Oh, right." Owen couldn't hide his blushing that time.

Just then Ophelia's Ghost sense went off, and a look of recognition spread across her face as well as a smile. Started to run off the direction her sense led her.

"Ophelia?" Owen said while trying to catch up with her. "Where are you going?"

Ophelia didn't hear anything as she ran faster to her destination. She headed straight into the park as Owen followed. Once she made it to a thicket of trees she slowed down. Owen stared at her confused as she started whistling. Why would she be whistling for a ghost in the middle of a park? There was a rustle in the bushes that startled Owen and excited Ophelia. A little green dog, appearing no older than eight months, appeared from the bushes. He had red eyes and a collar around his neck. He had that silly little expressions puppies have when happily reuniting with their owner. Ophelia smiled at the adorable ghost dog.

"Cujo!" Ophelia exclaimed to the little dog, who leaped in her arms at the sound of his name. "Where have you been, you silly little dog? I've missed you."

"Is _that_ your dog?" said Owen surprised, mostly because he saw her a more of a cat person.

"Well, sort of." Ophelia responded while petting Cujo. "He always follows us around and we let him stay at our house, but he tends to come and go as he pleases. I've actually taught him a few tricks. You wanna see?"

"Uh..sure"

Ophelia put the dog down as it sat itself opposite to its owner.

"Cujo, stand." Cujo then got up to its hind legs, his forepaws under his little chin.

"Coju, hide." Cujo then turned invisible.

"Cujo, play alive." Cujo's fur turned from green to light brown and his red his turned blue. His pale tongue turned a few shades brighter until he resembled a living dog.

"Cool." Was all Owen could say to the little ghost dog.

"Is it okay if Cujo comes with us? I'd have to take him home otherwise. He'll end up following me one way or the other."

"Doesn't the Nasty Burger have a strict no pets policy?" Owen asked.

"I guess that applies to dead dogs as well." Said Ophelia defeated. "I'll take him home and then meet with you guys later. Is that okay?"

"It'll be fine, they'll understand when I tell them that you reunited with your ghost puppy." They both laughed at how ridiculous and reasonable that sounds at the same time.

"Thanks Owen, catch you later." Ophelia picked up the little ghost dog, now back into his original form, and flew into the direction of her house. Owen just stood there amazed. He learns more and more about her everyday, yet at the same time he feels he knows less by the hour.

* * *

 

"Hey Mom," Ophelia said as she entered then door to her house.

"Hey Ophelia." Sam greeted, "That was fast. How's your trip to the Nasty Burger?"

"Didn't make it there, look who I found in the park." She held out the little green dog right at eye level with Sam, who was both happy and annoyed with the return of their beloved little dog.

"Cujo!" She said sweetly as she snatched the little ghost from her daughters hands. "Took you long enough. The greenhouse is in top shape without you digging out all the roots."

"I think he's house trained enough to stay in my room. I found the bed just the other day." Ophelia said excitedly.

"You know your father has the last say with Cujo. Besides, last time we tried to make him an inside dog he destroyed all the little dresses Grandma Manson gave you."

"Yeah, I still don't know how he got into my closet, or why he only picked those horrible dresses." Ophelia said guiltily.

"I just wish I had thought of that when I was your age." She winked at Ophelia and they both barked to respond, which sounded like a toy dog's bark when in his minute form. This made the women laugh harder.

"Dad's going to think this is hilarious." Ophelia said, petting the dog.

"What I just said or Cujo's bark?" Sam asked, a little confused.

"No, that we found Cujo during the Dog Days, it's nearing the end of September."

"Oh, astronomy humor. I guess he'll get it."

"I'm surprised you guys named him Cujo instead of Sirius. Dad was pretty into astronomy back in those days, wasn't he?"

"He did, but we found out that when he was alive, Axiom Labs named him Cujo. Even after death he goes by that name."

Cujo leaped out of Sam's arms and ran up stairs, straight to Ophelia's room. Ophelia flew after him to make sure he wasn't up to any mischief. Sam looked on at her little girl with her even littler dog. She wasn't much of a dog person, but she let Danny and Ophelia keep Cujo mainly because he's dead. Dead dogs don't need to be fed, they don't need to be cleaned after, and in Cujo's case, dead dogs don't need to be trained since they had all their training when they were alive. It was a cross between a virtual pet and a real one, all the cuddliness without the work. Danny always wanted a dog, but never got one when growing up because of his parents. They had feared a dog would destroy their inventions or they would end up killing it in a freak accident and their kids would never forgive them. So Sam had to go up against two sets of puppy dog eyes when she first considered keeping the dog. The eyes had obviously done their magic.

* * *

 

The next day Ophelia left for school while Cujo was still asleep in bed. She took the moped from the tool shed and into the front yard. She put on her lucky goggles and a helmet, taking out the flower in her hair and stashing it away in a loose compartment on the she made it to Casper High she was met by Owen, Darcy, and Wal. They were in the middle of a conversation by the time Ophelia had parked the moped, placed her lucky goggles in her school bag and put the flower back in her hair. When they saw her, they broke their conversation and looked at her. Darcy and Wal looked at her in curiosity, Owen rather strangely when he saw what Ophelia was wearing.

"Hey guys," Ophelia said, somewhat oblivious to the staring. "what were you just talking about?"

"Owen told us about your new dog." Wal explained.

"Or rather newly reunited dog." Darcy explained further.

Ophelia looked at Owen in a pretend suspicious look. "Did he now?"

Owen didn't seem to realize the jest and panicked. "Not anything bad, really. Not that there is anything bad to tell about a cute little ghost dog."

Ophelia laughed. She never quite understood why Owen seemed to be nervous around her half the time. She knew it didn't involve her ghost powers, even though he asked a lot about her ghost powers and about the Phantom half of her family. Whatever made him so nervous, she loved to make him squirm once in a while.

"Yes, I do have a dog." she addressed to Darcy and Wal. "He has been around the family long before me, even before my sister."

"Hold on. You have a SISTER!" Owen and Wal asked in unison.

Ophelia groaned in annoyance at what she had just provoked. "Technically, no. It's a long, complicated story for another day. What I’m trying to say is that I had Cujo for a long time."

She hated giving away facts about her life like that. She used to hide her ghost powers when she was little because she was afraid that they would cause too much trouble both in the mobs of starstruck school children and in the ghosts that would pick a fight with the little girl if they knew she could fight back. But that was blown out of the water when she started getting new powers out of nowhere, starting when she split herself in two during a game of dodgeball. She was able to cover herself in that incident, but not when her trusted babysitter thought it would be fun to skip class and leave her duplicate behind to take a test. After that, she stuck to telling people as little about her and her family as possible. And to her, Dani is one of many things about her family she would rather keep to herself.

"You named your dog Cujo?" Darcy said, ignoring the two boys trying to imagine Ophelia's sister.

"Axiom Labs named my dog Cujo. Back when he was alive, he was one of the labs security dogs. They thought Cujo was a threatening name."

"He's not that threatening, though." Owen said when he snapped out his little dream world. "He was a puppy when I saw him."

"That's because he wasn't threatened or aggravated in any way." Ophelia explained. "He's pretty scary when he's provoked."

"I doubt it. That little thing wouldn't scare a bunny rabbit, let alone me." Owen said, trying to act cool with his arms crossed and his head slightly turned away and his eyes closed. He lost his cool moment when his auburn hair got into his eyes and he tried to blow it away. He opened one of his hazel eyes to see if anyone saw that.

Ophelia giggled at his failed attempt at being macho. "Just because something looks harmless and small doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. Just look at me,” She made her eyes glow menacingly to spook the poor boy, all laughed at his scared little face.

Homeroom went on just as it always had. As well as second period. But during third period, Ophelia's ghost sense went off before she could hear the barking of a small dog outside the window. She tried to ignore it as best she could, but eventually the whole class was staring out the window at the barking, leaping, little green dog.

"Ms. Fenton," said her English teacher.

"Yes, Mrs. Harper?" she asked, pretending no to hear the barking.

"Would that happen to be your dog barking outside the window?"

"What, so you think that since I'm half ghost that a random ghost dog outside the window is immediately mine?"

Cujo gave up on the barking and phased through the wall and walked right up to Ophelia's desk, ruining her perfectly good argument.

"Ms. Fenton, we do have a strict no pets policy in this school. Alive or dead, they are not allowed."

"Yes, Mrs. Harper." Ophelia groaned. She turned to her dog and commanded: "Cujo, go home."

As commanded, Cujo raced across the classroom and through the wall in the direction of Willow Street.

"Cute little thing." Mrs. Harper commented. "How long have you had it for?"

"Twenty-four years." Ophelia answered.

"Don't let it happen again." Mrs. Harper commanded.

"Yes, ma'am."

When class ended, some girls she never talked to before walked up to her.

"Was that really your dog?" One of them asked.

"Yes."

"Where do you get a dog like that? It's too cute." Another one squealed.

"Cujo is one of a kind, like me. Your can't just go to a kennel in the Ghost Zone and pick one."

"Well, when they open one let us know." The girls left Ophelia before they could see her eyes roll. Amity Park is the most haunted town in the country, in the planet even. Yet, most of the population is still clueless about the Ghost Zone.

* * *

 

"Is Cujo really one of a kind?" Abi asked during PE.

"Well, we've never encountered a dog like him in the Ghost Zone or the Human Plane. I should think that if there were any dogs at all, you could count them on one hand. Plus Cujo's my dog, so he's one of a kind to me."

They were running on the track while they were speaking. Coach Baxter noticed that they were slowing down so he blew his whistle for them to speed up.

"Fenton, de Fleur, pick up the pace before I make you do twenty push-ups."

"Are you still planning on trying out for Track with Darcy?" Abi asked.

"Yeah, I don't see why not." Ophelia answered "It'll kill some time after school and it will give me and excuse to not be on call when something ghost related happens."

"How are you even going to try out? Won't Coach Baxter disqualify you because of your ghost powers? He already has it in for you, I don't think putting his golden boys to shame will put you on his good side."

"Abi, I've had ghost powers for my entire existence. Do you think that the issue of an athletic advantage hasn't been brought to my parents’ attention? I've got something for it."

"What would that be?"

"How about you wait until tryouts after school to find out."

* * *

 

As Ophelia requested, Abi waited after school to watch her and Darcy try out for track. She was accompanied in the bleachers by Owen, whose eyes seemed to be fixed on what was about twelve other girls on the field. Baxter had already picked out the boy’s team so they were already out on the field warming up.

Coach Baxter walked up to Ophelia, who was stretching in preparation. He seemed to be annoyed that she had the nerve to try out.

"Fenton, what are you doing here?" Baxter said at a rather high volume.

"Trying out." She answered with a cheery voice, ignoring the aggression in Coach Baxter's.

"Don't you think you have too great of an advantage over the rest of the girls? Don't you think it would be unfair to them if you take away a spot for them?"

"Well I do run around all the time, but I don't think a little healthy exercise should prevent me from trying out. That's what try outs are for, isn't it? To see who can cut it in the team."

Ophelia heard the other girls giggling behind her. Darcy was giving her a high five. Coach Baxter started to turn red.

"You know what I mean, Phantom! What will keep you from using your ghost powers to cheat and cost me my tournament trophies?"

"This will, I believe." Ophelia pulled out her duffel bag a large metal wrist cuff. It had the traditional green and white color scheme of all Fenton gadgetry. If that didn't give it away, the word "Fenton" certainly did.

"It's an ecto-inhibitor," Ophelia continued, "As long as I wear this, it neutralizes my ghost powers. Whatever speed or strength you see me do with this thing will be because of pure human muscle, not by ghost powers."

"And why should I approve that do-hicky to be used on my field?"

"Because my parents already got it cleared by the Board on the first week of school." Ophelia gave Coach Baxter a letter of approval from the President of the Amity Park Board of Education. "Somehow, they knew you wouldn't let me try out for anything without it."

Coach Baxter read the letter thoroughly before he grumbled, "Go ahead, Fenton" in defeat.

Ophelia then put on the inhibitor and turned it on. She gave her wrist to Coach Baxter. "You have to set in a code so I won't be able to take it off on track. Standard procedure." Baxter then put in a random set of numbers and the bracelet locked on to her wrist. There was a slight green glow around her body and then it stopped, her eyes dulled to a dark green.

"Okay, I'm ready."

"Girls, seven of you get to your marks. Boys, clear out of the track so they can run."

Seven of the girls, including Ophelia, got to the track. The other seven continued to stretch and prepare for their turn. Darcy went to the bleachers and sat with Abi, both had their eyes fixed on Ophelia on the field. The boys took their seat two rows in front of Abi and Darcy, some were chuckling about seeing the girls run. The word "sissies" was said by one of the boys.

Coach Baxter had his eyes on his watch ready to start. "Girls on your mark, get set, GO!"

The girls sprinted off at the word, each going for the lead. Ophelia made it all the way to the lead with what appeared to be little effort. In no time she a good two feet ahead of the rest of the girls, and was still sprinting farther and farther away until . Half of the audience were in awe at the performance. The boys were shrugging it off, mumbling about her being a silly girl. Abi, Owen and Darcy were cheering full out for Ophelia.

"Way to go, Phe!"

"Let's go, Ophelia!"

"Work it, girl!"

By the end of the run, Ophelia had come in first by half a mile and record time. She even managed to break the boys record, much to Coach Baxter's chagrin as well as the boys.

Abi and Darcy ran to Ophelia, who didn't seem to be too out of breath from her accomplishment.

"You were crazy out there." Abi said.

"Insane beyond all comprehension." Owen added.

"Coach Baxter will have no choice but to make you captain. You out shined his precious boys choir." Darcy said.

"Thanks, I can't wait to see you try it. I'd really like to have a co-captain." Ophelia encouraged.

"I may not be as fast as you, but I think it won't be too hard. Aren't you hot?

"I'm sweating, aren't I?"

"It's the Dog Days and you just ran faster than the speed of sound. You should be drenched."

"Ice core, 89 degree body temp, it's a ghost thing."

"Cool." Abi said, pun intended.

"Just sit down and have a drink, you must be tired." Darcy advised.

"Oh please, I've run a lot faster than this for more reasons than a try out."

"I got it, Darce." Abi said with her hands on Ophelia's shoulders. She pulled her to sit down on the bleachers.  
"You, sit, drink, rest." she commanded.

"Yes, mother." Ophelia said as she rolled her eyes.

"Next group, set up." Coach Baxter instructed.

"I guess it's my turn." Darcy smiled.

"Let them have it." Abi said.

"Run swifter than the Tartar's bow, my Goodfellow." Ophelia joked. No one laughed.

The second group of runners took their positions on the track. Coach Baxter was getting ready to start the race. Just when he was about to start, a ghost ray was aimed at Ophelia. She was able to get out of the way in time and the bleachers exploded in her place. Everyone was running away from the field, leaving Ophelia and her friends alone with the assailant. It turned out to be Technus, mullet and all.

"Now that I have freed myself from prison. I, Technus, master of all technology, shall seek my revenge on Danny Phantom and shall use his daughter to do so."

"Thanks for the heads up, Master of Giving Away Diabolical Schemes." Ophelia shouted, "Man, sometimes you are worse than the Box Ghost."

"We'll see about that after I destroy you."

He shot another ghost ray at her, and she tried to deflect it with a shield. It was then that she remembered she still had the ecto-inhibitor stuck to her wrist. She still had an extra second to dodge away from the shot.

"Of course I still have the Cuff on when Technus shows up." she said to herself. "The only way this could get worse is if he decides to use it against me."

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Technus said, letting her know that she said that a little too loudly. "You Phantoms really should've gone into teaching."

"My name is not Phantom!" she shouted back.

He snapped his fingers and Ophelia's inhibitor started to glow. Ophelia buckled in fatigue as she started to grow pale.

"Ophelia!" cried her friends.

"Funny thing about those inhibitors," Technus said to the frail young girl. "one little adjustment and they can completely eliminate the ectoplasm in your body. And from what I heard about your physiology, it can be very deadly."

Ophelia was getting weaker, her floral scars showing violently through her white skin. Her friends watched in horror before running over to her to help. They tried to pry the bracelet off her only to get a horrible electrical shock. Owen tried again, only to get shocked out of consciousness.

"You need a code to get the inhibitor off." Technus said with a mocking laugh. "A code I believe she doesn't know."

"Go find Coach Baxter and get the code off of him." Darcy demanded Abi. "And take Owen with you."

Abi immediately grabbed Owen and dragged him into the school as fast as she could. Darcy went back to trying to get the cuff off to no avail but a lot of electric shock. Out of nowhere, Cujo appeared by his mistress. He growled at the ghost, his small stature more comical than threatening.

"Do you really think an impish little dog can go against Technus, Master of All Technology?" He laughed into hysterics at the thought.

Cujo then grew from an adorable little green dog to a huge carnivorous canine with glowing red eyes and razor sharp teeth. Both Technus and Darcy were horrified at the sight of the beast.

"What on Earth is that!" Darcy exclaimed in shock.

Cujo then pounced at Technus, pinning him to the ground. He grabbed him in his teeth and shook at him viciously before tossing him into what was left of the bleachers.

As the fight continued Abi and Owen returned. Both were shocked at the sight of the large ghost dog.

"What _is_ that?" Abi exclaimed.

"I think that is Cujo angry." Darcy explained.

"Ophelia was right" Owen said, "I never want to see him like _that_ again."

"Speaking of Ophelia, the code please!" Darcy demanded.

Owen knelt down to Ophelia, unable to take in the sight of the white skinned girl with floral scars on her face and body. He punched in the code before getting shocked and the bracelet fell off. The scars went away as Ophelia regained her color. She still wasn't awake and Owen held her in his arms. He carried her away in safety as Cujo continued to maim Technus within an inch of his afterlife.

After a few minutes of this, the police finally arrived with Danny Phantom not too far behind.

"Cujo, heal!" Danny commanded "I think he's had enough."

At his command, Cujo released the ghost from his jaws and he fell to the ground. Cujo then shrunk down to his adorable size and ran off to his youngest mistress. Ophelia was still unconscious and still in Owen's arms when Cujo jumped onto her. He licked her face until she finally woke up.

"Cujo!" Ophelia said excitedly, "Did you save me from that nasty ghost? Good boy."

She noticed that she was in Owen's arms and looked up at him.

"Hey Owen." she said, smiling sweetly.

"Ophelia! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a little tired. Thanks for saving me."

"No problem. Anything for you, Ophelia. I mean.. I'd do anything for my friends." He blushed.

"That's nice of you to say. Now, could you put me down, please?"

* * *

 

After everything was cleared out with the police, and once Ophelia made it very clear to her dad, repeatedly, that she was just fine, Coach Baxter announced that the try-outs will be continued next week for the girls who couldn't run before the chaos ensued.

Darcy was okay with it, as well as the other girls. Some of them had sprains from tripping over things when they ran, so they weren't in any condition to run today.

When everything was cleared up and Ophelia was out of her running clothes, Owen went up to her.

"Ophelia." he said.

"Yes, Owen?" She replied.

"When you were weakened by the inhibitor, you had these crazy scars all over you. They looked kind of like roses. Can you tell me where those came from?"

Ophelia bit her lip. She looked at her arms to see if they were still there. Luckily, they weren't.

"If it's alright with you, I'd rather not talk about it. All I can tell you is that like most scars, they have a long, painful story behind them."

"It's okay, you can tell me when you feel like it. I understand."

"Thanks, Owen. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay" he replied.

With that Ophelia grabbed her things and left. Owen watched her as she left. There was so much he didn't know about this girl. The more he would try to find, the farther he felt from getting to any answers. All he knew is that whatever she may be hiding, it must be something bad if she had scars to prove it.

 


	6. Bitter Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fentons encounter an old acquaintance.

A few blocks away form Willow Street, Ophelia was walking her dog Cujo while her friend Darcy was walking her dog Baskerville. From past walks with Cujo, Ophelia learned that she'll have to end up running after him no matter what leash he's in. She wore comfortable shoes as well as jeans comfortable to run in. She wore a black t-shirt with the DP emblem in purple under a denim jacket. Darcy wore a long sleeved tee with the words "fight or flight" written in a font similar to the one seen on a Sex Pistols albums. She wore baggy yet form fitting pants and tennis shoes. Her short brown hair just brushing over her blue eyes.

"I'm surprised your parents let you outside anymore." Darcy said to her friend.

"Why's that?" inquired Ophelia.

"Well, you still have that hit on you and you've been attacked like five times because of it. People in your position would either change their name or have a crew of bodyguards follow them. Kids at school are keeping their distance from you so they won't get caught in any crossfires. It's amazing that you're going on our walks at all."

"Is that why people have been avoiding me? I thought it was because the jocks finally got the message that I'm not on the market." she joked. When Darcy didn't laugh, she continued. “And for your information out of all those attacks, only two of them were made by actually assassins. The others were just some bad guys I was bringing down because of the whole Bystander Contract thing. All of whom have been put to jail."

"The two assassins were broken out of jail, remember? You told me."

"They'll be just as easily sent back, but that is not my problem to deal with. Escaped criminals are the police's issue, that's in the job description. And another thing, if you thought I was so dangerous you wouldn't be going on these walks with me after dark. You shouldn't be worried about my safety when you don't worry about your own."

"Well, it's easier to walk Baskerville standing next to the human nightlight." Darcy smirked at Ophelia, who naturally glowed a little light that could only be seen in the dark. She secretly wanted Ophelia to go on these walks with her so her parents won't force her to wear her hideous reflector jacket anymore.

"I know that you like hanging around me for more than avoiding you reflector jacket." Ophelia said as if reading Darcy's mind. "You shouldn't worry about me, the guys who put out the hit did this so he could scare me. I'm not giving him that satisfaction, and neither should anyone else. None of these hit men will kill me, and it's not like they’re attacking me every day."

Just then, Cujo barked at an unseen party the same time Ophelia's ghost sense went off. Ophelia groaned, indicating that the ghost was for her.

"Just whenever it is an inconvenience to you." said Darcy, half-worried.

Ophelia pulled out her cell phone and called the Thirteenth Precinct.

"Hello Officer Prez, tell Detective Gray that I found the fugitives. They’re on Yellow Brooke Lane. Better hurry, or I'll have to do your job for you."

Before she could hear the officer's response, her phone was shot out of her hand and smashed to pieces on the ground.

"Drat! I was a month away from an upgrade."

The shooter showed himself as Skulker brandishing an ecto-canon as a part of his new suit. This one looked just about the same as the old one, but a little more bulky with new weaponry and upgrades.

"Speaking of upgrades, it didn't take you that long to build a new suit from scratch." Ophelia said. "I don't see why you were complaining earlier."

While she spoke, a red net was shot from behind her. Ophelia dodged the net and grabbed the rope attaching the net to the launcher.

"Hello, again." Ophelia yanked at the rope hard and pulled Vendetta out of a nearby tree.

Ophelia looked down at the human hunter with irritation. "It's Vid right?"

"My name's not Vid anymore, it's VENDETTA!" she cried angrily.

Skulker was about to fire something at Ophelia while her back is turned, but somehow she saw it coming. She turned to her little dog and commanded "Cujo, sic him!" The dog then transformed into its monstrous form and barreled after Skulker. Skulker didn't exactly run away, neither did he fight back. He was more analyzing the situation before the ghost dog pounced at him. The next thing he knew he was in the dog’s teeth.

While that was going on Vendetta and Ophelia were in the midst of their own fight. Vendetta decided to do hand to hand with limited weaponry, Ophelia accepted (less property damage). Ophelia decided not to use her powers, stretching the fight long enough for the police to arrive. Ophelia took the defensive, dodging every punch, kick, and chop swung at her as best she could. She ducked down and swung her leg to sweep Vendetta to the ground. Ophelia pinned Vendetta to the ground.

"Why do you want to work for him, anyway?" Ophelia asked, Vendetta struggling under her. "He ruined your career the moment you had one, he took you away from a normal life. Not to mention he's mad as mercury drenched, fresh from the Wonderland loony bin hatter."

Vendetta didn't respond but instead got her legs on Ophelia's abdomen and kicked her off. Ophelia went through a window, without her ghost powers. She was covered by shards of glass and had cuts everywhere. Her clothes stained in crimson and coated in glass. Ophelia allowed herself to turn intangible to shake off the glass, allowing her wounds to heal.

"You owe me a new outfit." She said in restrained anger.

Ophelia ran and kicked Vendetta, sending her into Skulker who had just broken free from Cujo's vicious walked over to the pair with her dog growling right by her.

"I am getting sick of this whole 'billion dollar girl' thing and I want it to stop. I am willing to cut you a deal: I'll let you go before the police can arrive to cuff you on the condition that you resign from the hit and tell your boss for me that I want him to call this off."

"No way!" Vendetta cried.

"I'll never back away from a hunt!" Skulker said indignantly. "Especially if the prey is a whelp like you."

"I don't see a lot of hunting on your side, all I saw is me shredding your other suit to bits and your new suit as Cujo's new chew toy."

"Maybe this will change your opinion." Skulker said with a smirk. He pulled out a grenade from nowhere and tossed it at Darcy. Darcy had good reflexes, so she was able to dodge out of the way before it exploded. Unfortunately, Baskerville just stood there barking at the ghost and girl on the ground. Ophelia formed a shield around the large black dog, the grenade exploded on contact with the shield.

"Darcy!" Ophelia cried to her friend. "Take your dog and run home. Cujo will follow you."

She dematerialized the shield so Darcy could grab her dog and run. Usually, Darcy would protest at running away at moments like these. But having a grenade thrown at you and seeing your friend get thrown through a window makes you reconsider your "fight, no flight" mantra.

Ophelia turned to her monstrous pet. "Cujo! Guard!" was all she had to say to the post-mortem security dog. He gave what dogs do equivalent to a nod and galloped after Darcy and Baskerville. Ophelia turned to her adversaries, who were now on their feet and armed. She glared at them with malice, her eyes green flames. The torn clothes and blood added to the girl's terrorizing look. The wounds were now healed, leaving only blood on her smooth skin. The blood looked like it belonged to someone else now that there were no longer cuts to prove it to be hers. All in all, she was a pretty frightening sight for a girl of her stature, and she knew it.

"You do not stick my friends in the crossfire!" she cried.

"No worries about that anymore, is there?" Vendetta said, unfaltering. "Just us now."

Ophelia's eyes burned brighter as two green swords materialized in her hands.

"Go on then, dazzle me." she said mockingly. “I dare you.”

* * *

 

Darcy ran straight to the Fentons' house when she escaped. She banged at the door rapidly as if someone's life was at stake. As far as she knew, there was.

Ms. Manson answered the door. She immediately noticed the absence of her daughter’s glow, and was concerned when she processed Darcy's frightened expression and Cujo's enormous size.

"What happened? Where's Ophelia?" was her immediate response.

Darcy was out of breath at this point, she having ran about five blocks without stopping or slowing down.

"Ghost... Woman...tree... Cujo...window... Grenade... Boom... Ran"

"How about you come inside and I get you some water. You can tell me the full story once you've caught your breath."

By the time Darcy had finished her story, Mr. Fenton had returned from work. Perplexed at the scene he inquired about the situation. To save Darcy from retelling her story, Ms. Manson told him for her.

"Ophelia was walking Cujo with Darcy here when she was attacked by both Skulker and Vendetta. Ophelia was still fighting them when she made Darcy run home with Cujo following her. She hasn't come home yet, Danny. I think this is serious."

Mr. Fenton's face darkened. Since she first met them, Darcy had noticed how much younger Ophelia’s parents looked. Instead of two people approaching their forties they appeared to have just graduated college. Only now, when hisface was brimming with the same parental concern she has seen in her dads, did Mr. Fenton’s real age show.

"How long has it been?" Mr. Fenton asked in a stern tone.

"About twenty minutes." Darcy replied, now truly frightened for her friend.

"Do you think she might be filling out a report?" Ms. Manson said

"She would have called." was her husband’s reply.

"Skulker smashed her phone." Darcy explained

"She could've borrowed one of the officers phone or called from the station."

"Maybe she lost track of the time." Ms. Manson hypothesized. "Sometimes, after your fight you don't realize its been hours. I'll go call to check."

Before she could reach the phone, the doorbell rang. Mr. Fenton answered the door to Detective Gray. She had she same darkened look Mr. Fenton had.

"Mr. Fenton," she said to keep it professional. "Your daughter is missing and we suspect fowl play."

"What did you find?" Mr. Fenton demanded.

"Blood, and lots of it. There were broken glass but it had smeared everywhere else."

"That could have been Vivian's all we know." He tried not to think of the worse.

"Danny, buds were sprouting from most of the blood. She may have had a good couple of rounds since there were ectoplasm and rubble, but the end result was clear. Ophelia lost the fight, Danny. He's got your daughter."

* * *

 

When Owen saw the police cars outside of the Fenton home he knew there was trouble. He ran over as fast as he could to see if the trouble involved Ophelia. The door was open so he didn't bother knocking. He saw Detective Gray with Darcy, she was apparently getting her side of the story. Mrs. Fenton was with Danny Phantom and they appeared to be arguing.

"I have to do this alone. I don't want him hurting you too." Phantom said.

"Please don’t do this to me again,” begged Ms. Fenton. Owen got scared, he had never seen Mrs. Fenton so vulnerable before. He didn’t even know she was capable of it.

“Last time you made me stay back, you and Ophelia barely came back alive.”

“Exactly my point. If I barely made it back, you might not come back at all.”

“I've known him just as long as you have. I can handle myself. What I can't handle is sitting in the sidelines as the people I love get hurt."

"I won't Sam, I promise."

"Can you promise the same for Ophelia?" she replied hoarsely.

"He can't do anything worse to her than what he had already done to her."

"You know just as well as I do that he'd think of something, and I'm not going to sit here and wait for you to bring her home to see his creativity."

Danny held her shoulders and looked in her eyes. Both of them saw pain and worry in their spouse's eyes.

"I can handle this, trust me." he said deathly seriousness.

Mrs. Fenton just looked away and stepped aside, she was letting him go alone.

He gave her a kiss and ran up stairs to Ophelia's room. Mrs. Fenton was holding herself, trying to fight back the tears. Owen walked up to her when he thought she had composure.

"I saw the police cars outside and rushed over here immediately" Owen said in a panicked voice. "What happened? Where's Ophelia?"

Mrs. Fenton nearly lost it when she heard her daughter's name. Somehow she managed to smile.

"Oh, hello Owen." she said. "We don't really know where Ophelia is, but we know it's nowhere good. She got attacked by a couple of bounty hunters and they managed to capture her. Mr. Phantom is going to go find her with Cujo. He's an excellent tracking dog."

It took a while for Owen to process this. Ophelia was kidnapped. She was the bravest, strongest, most powerful girl he'd ever met. He couldn't believe what he just heard. He couldn't imagine her tied up by some villainous specter. He couldn't imagine those glittering emeralds dimmed pale in fear, or pleads of mercy uttered by those rose bud lips. He started to realize how he was thinking of her and snapped out of it. _What am I thinking?_ he thought, _She's my friend,_ _and nothing more._

Phantom came back with Ophelia's lucky goggles in his hand and Cujo at his feet. He knelt down and let Cujo smell the goggles. Phantom opened a portal to the Ghost Zone and Cujo immediately picked up the scent, barreling straight to the portal.

"I'll make sure she comes home safe, Sam." He assured his wife. "I promise." He gave he a long, deep kiss, making Owen uncomfortable at witnessing such a private moment, and then flew into the Ghost Zone. The portal closed behind him.

* * *

 

It wasn't too long until everyone left the house, Valarie to her office to submit her report and Owen and Darcy headed home knowing nothing else to do at this moment. As soon as Sam was sure there was no one else in the house she ran to the den. There she rummaged through old boxes. She didn’t find exactly what she was looking for but she found the next best thing. The Fenton Boo-merang, a stupidly named device used to track ghosts. It was only locked in to one specific ecto-signature: Danny's. She went to the garage where they kept the Specter Speeder. She looked inside and found the portal cannon her mother-in-law used to use. She fired it at the garage door and a portal opened to the Ghost Zone, large enough for the Speeder to fly through.

Sam turned on the Boo-merang and told it "Find Danny." she threw it and it went straight through the portal.

Sam got into the Speeder and started the rockets.

"I don’t care if you can handle it on your own, I am not going to sit idly while my baby is in danger. Not again.”

She drove the Speeder into the portal, which closed up behind her.

* * *

 

Ophelia was still unconscious when they arrived at the Client's lair. It looked like a cross between a medieval castle and a Victorian style mansion. They reached the door and Vendetta pushed the button. A screen turned on and a dark figure appeared.

"Did you acquire the target?" the figure asked.

"Lock, stock, and barrel." Skulker said showing to the videocom Ophelia chained up in a box made of energy.

"Good, come in." The large doors opened and the two went in, the box floated after them.

They met the figure in a large library. He was sitting in a large armchair, back turned to them. He appeared to be staring into the large fireplace the shadows continued to conceal his face.

"Sir," Vendetta said, "we have the target here for you. She is very much alive."

The figure got up from the chair and walked up to the hunters. The light from the rest of the room revealed him to be none other than Vlad Plasmius. Like Danny and Sam, he hasn't seemed to age as much as he should be. In fact, he looked the same as he had been twenty-four years ago when he was mayor of Amity Park. He walked up to the glowing box to inspect the girl inside.

"My, has she grown over the years." Plasmius said, "Last time I saw her she was nothing more than a flying toddler. Get rid of the box but keep the chains, she can be very rowdy when she wakes up form her naps."

As he commanded, Skulker pushed a button on his wrist and the box dissolved. Ophelia fell to the ground and groaned a little, but she still did not wake. Vlad knelt down and tried to lift the girl's face to see, but he was stung on contact with the blood on her face.

"Ahh! Why didn't you tell me she was bleeding?" he yelled at the hunters.

"We didn't think it was important." Vendetta said.

"What is that, anyway?" Skulker asked.

Vlad smiled as he resumed his human form and pulled a handkerchief to clear her face.

"Let's just say, she got into a little accident." Masters explained with a proud smile. "Now her blood is infused with blood blossoms."

He held the handkerchief and inspected the crimson stain before dropping it to the ground. Within seconds, black vines sprouted from the cloth and tore it apart. The vines soon grew thorns and leaves, and a single red flower bloomed heralding more to come. The two backed away, Skulker in fear of the pain that comes with the plant and Vendetta in surprise.

"It's completely harmless inside her, as long as she in nowhere near fully grown blood blossoms. When close enough the blossoms inside react and quadruple the painful experience for her. Once the blood exits her body and touches the ground the vile weeds grows from the nutriance in her blood. Her blood reacts negatively with ectoplasm other than hers. It's quite fascinating, like a deadly poison used as a cure. She cannot be overshadowed by other ghosts and she cannot be touched once she is cut."

"Is that why you wanted her," Vendetta asked her employer. "So you can examine her blood?"

"My reasons do not concern you. Your job is done. You may go, the money will be wired to your accounts. Two billion each, I believe."

"Does that mean you can call off the hit?" Vendetta asked.  
Vlad’s smile grew sinister when he turned to her.

"Why would I need to have people keep searching for you? You’re already here.”

Without warning, Vlad shot a ghost ray at Vendetta, knocking her across the room. She hit the wall with a loud _crash_ , the books from the broken shelves fell on her.   
“It was brave of you to face me,” He told Vendetta, “You’ve always been a brave child. Brave, but not particularly smart.”

Vlad walked towards Vendetta, taking his ghostly form as he did so. Skulker and Ophelia disappeared as he passed them, dissolving into a cloud of purple smoke. White rings appeared at Vendetta’s waist. As they parted Vendetta disappeared, leaving a white haired, purple eyed, bruised and bleeding Ophelia in her place.

He knelt down to her eye level.

"Did you just develop that power this morning?” He asked, “My, my, you are becoming more and more powerful every day, aren't you?” Ophelia gave him no response, so he continued. “But no less clever, sadly. I saw right through your disguise the moment you phoned in posing as Ms. Redd.”

Ophelia scrambled backwards, phasing through the wall behind her. 

“Ah, ah, ah,” Vlad grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her back into the room. She let out a small yelp the moment he touched her.

“You can’t leave so soon after you just arrived.” He said with an upbeat chiding tone a parent might give to their child.  “Why don’t you stay a while? Have a little chat with old Uncle Vlad. We haven’t seen each other in ten years, after all, and you came all this way.”

Vlad held Ophelia’s cheek in his hand. He got close to her face, far too close for comfort, and held it tighter when she squirmed.

“What did you expect would happen here? You’d trick me to call off the hit and then what? Call the police?”

Ophelia said nothing, only stared back at him with rather unhappy, flashing eyes. Vlad smiled, amused and surprised.

“You planned on defeating me, weren’t you? You thought you could hold your own against me.” He gave a small laugh at the thought, “Cute.”

Ophelia raised a glowing hand to shoot him. He caught her by the wrist, pulled her up from the ground. and flung her over his head.

“I said we were having a chat,” he said with a tone of anger in his voice. “So you sit there and _listen”_

Her back slammed onto the floor at his feet. She suppressed a scream, she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of hearing her in pain. She tried to get up, but was pinned down by a foot to her stomach. Vlad knelt at her side, staring down at her while his foot kept her pinned to the ground.

"Look at yourself, Ophelia. Look at where you are. You are the first pure ghost-human hybrid in existence. You have powers beyond anyone's wildest imagination, including mine. The energy found in a single strand of your hair can outshine a nuclear bomb. Everyone has been afraid of your potentially devastating powers since the day you were conceived and here you are wasting your talents, let an old man beat you with minimal effort. No one can help you with your powers, especially not your father. He spends more of his time in space when he isn't playing hero. He isn't even here to protect you, he never was. I have these powers longer than the two of you have even existed. I can teach you how to use your powers, I can protect you from anything and anyone that would try to hurt you to use your powers for their own personal gain. You can trust me, my dear, I care about your well being. Join me, Ophelia. Become the daughter I always wanted and I'll teach you to become the most powerful being in the duoverse. All you have to do is renounce the name Fenton (or Phantom) and never see your friends and family again."

“You already gave me that line,” Ophelia replied.

She phased through the floor, lowering Vlad's foot to the ground. Before he knew it, he felt a purple ghost-ray explode on his back. The blast sent him flying to the already broken bookshelf. He managed to change over to his human form (equally as unaffected by age) and phased through the wall into the next room. Ophelia followed after him. The room so it was completely dark. The glow of Ophelia's body illuminated most of the room, revealing it to be a labyrinthian hallway. She couldn't see Plasmius (or rather Masters now that he was in his human form) so she used her sense to follow him. She shut her eyes and saw in the back of her head a glowing shape. The shape was human and she recognize the color of the glow to be Masters' (a near crimson magenta, like his ghost energy). She opened her eyes, the glow remained in her sight and now she can see the hallway. He seemed to be running so she followed after him.

"Did you think I would forget what you did to me?” She shouted at him, “I had to see those scars on me _every day_ and was forced to relive that night. And you have the audacity to claim that you’re _better_ than those people that see me as a doomsday weapon with a pulse? _My family_ are the ones who truly care about he, _my friends_ are the people I can trust, _not you!_ I will never join you and for even asking to turn my back on the ones I care about I only have this to say: Vlad "

‘Plasmius’ Masters, you are one seriously crazed up fruitloo-"

Plasmius teleported right in front of her and grabbed her by the throat. He pinned her to the wall, the ghost ray in his free hand illuminated the hallway in a magenta blaze. He looked angry and deathly serious.

"I was giving you a second chance. I thought you would have learned from the last time, but you’ve grown to be just as _foolish_ and _stubborn_ as your father. I don't need another Phantom as an enemy, two are enough. I either take you under my wing or take you out. And once again, you’ve made the wrong choice."

Ophelia tried to break free but his grip was too tight even for a ghost to break free, both hands glowing with energy. She closed her eyes as she flinched for the blow. When she closed her eyes she saw the black glowing figure and the pink energy from his hand. She sensed another figure in the house in the floor right above them. The glow of this figure was green, and there was a smaller figure glowing blue. She recognized both of them.

* * *

 

It didn’t take Cujo long to track her down. It may have taken them an hour before they found the same floating castle Danny had entered ten years ago. The moment he and Cujo phased through the walls, the small dog began to bark. Not soon after, he heard a voice scream out from beneath their feet.

“Daddy!”

“Ophelia?”

"Daddy!" She screamed, she sounded like she was choking, "Down here!"

Danny phase through the floor. He found himself in a dark hallway, lit only by natural glow of her daughter, being pinned to a wall by her throat, and by the ghost ray Plasmius had aimed at her heart. Without even stopping to think, Danny flew in and knocked Vlad away with an ecto-charged kick.

"Hey Plasmius, ya missed me?" Danny said.

He heard Ophelia coughing the air back into her lungs. He turned and rushed to her side.

"You okay, sweetie?" He asked, concerned.

"A little beat up, a few bruises here and there." pointing to the dark red palm mark around her neck before it faded away "Nothing that won't heal of its own. You want any help?"

"Nah, I can handle the fruitloop. Just stay clear."

Ophelia nodded and her father ran down the hallway after his long-time arch-nemesis.

"What's wrong, Vlad? Have I gotten too old for you that you have to pick on my daughter now?" He grabbed Vlad by the shirt and gave him a glowing green punch in the jaw, it sent him into a wall. Plasmius spat out some ectoplasm and got up.

"Your parents weren't too old to fight me and neither are you, Daniel." Vlad pulled a magenta sword from the air and swung it at Danny.

Danny pulled out a green sword and the two were in a sword fight. Ophelia sat with Cujo, watching the fight and cheering on her dad.

"Go, Dad! Teach that fruitloop a lesson!"

Danny and Vlad were at it for a good ten minutes, parrying swords and tossing along a few witty banters. Danny eventually able to knock the sword out of Vlad's hands and grabbed it. He used both swords to pin Vlad against the wall, Danny's eyes were flaming like his daughter's were.

"It's over, Plasmius." Danny spat with anger "You're going to jail where you belong."

"Are you so sure about that? Over the years I have become quite adapt to escape plans." Plasmius then turned to Masters and phased through the wall. The room shook as another pair of walls shut the two off from the rest of the hallway.

“Ophelia!”

The minute the walls began to shake, Danny dematerialized the swords and went to his daughter’s side. He tucked her in his arms, shielding her from anything that might fall on them. They were tossed around in the box and then everything was still.

“I think it’s over,” Danny said, loosening his grip on his daughter to better see her, “You okay?”

“I think so, what just happened?”

Ophelia touched one of the walls and it fell down on contact. The other walls followed, the ceiling attached to one of them. When the walls came down it revealed that they were on a barren rock in the Ghost Zone.

"He must have shot us out of his house." Danny theorized.

"Should we go back and look for him?" Ophelia asked.

"He must have moved the castle by now, it’ll take us hours to find him. I'll call up the Observants to let them know what they are looking for. Are Vendetta and Skulker still out there?"

"No, took them down easily. Skulker is in Walker's prison and Vendetta is in the Thirteenth Precinct. Sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't want to tip off Vlad and lose the element of surprise. But I guess it didn’t matter since he figured it out anyway."

"It's okay, I- OW!" At that moment, the Boo-merang hit Danny on the head. The Speeder followed shortly afterwards and parked right next to him. Sam came out and ran to hug both of them.

"Mom!" Ophelia shouted.

"Ophelia! Are you okay? Did Vlad do something to you?"

"I'm fine, Mom, don't worry. Dad saved me before anything could happen."

"Good." Sam then switched from happily relieved to enraged. "OPHELIA LILITH FENTON! What were you doing going after Vlad alone? You know well enough how dangerous that is, he could have killed you!"

“He nearly killed my friends with that stupid hit of his,” Ophelia fought back, “I just wanted him to call it off.”

"So you thought giving him exactly what he wanted would help? Did you even have a plan of what you would do when you got there? Who knows what would happen if we weren’t there to save you.”  
“But Mom-“  
“But nothing! You are grounded, young lady! No phone, no friends, no garden, no Cujo, and no powers for two weeks. The only time you can leave the house is for school, and you come right back after. Got that!"

"Yes Mommy." Ophelia said, looking scared. Danny didn’t blame her. "How are you going to do the 'no powers' thing?"

"We fixed the inhibitor so nothing can hack into it. It can only be adjusted when we punch in a code to fix it. Now come on, let's go home. I'm cooking dinner tonight."

"Yes Mommy." Ophelia said as she walked in to Specter Speeder. Danny walked over to Sam and gave her a kiss.

"You didn't have to follow me, I was doing just fine."

"Forgive me if I can’t stand and wait for your bodies to roll in.”

“You’d rather get killed along with us?”

“It’s better than living without my family, knowing I could’ve stopped it.”

Danny gave a weak smile.   
“I guess I can’t live without you either.”

Sam looked away from him, gazing out into the swirling depths of the Ghost Zone.

“What are we going to do? He’s not going to stop, and he’s probably going to try harder now to destroy us. To destroy…”

Danny wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head besides hers.

“I don’t know, but I’m tired of running. And I think Phé’s tired, too. Whatever we’re going to do, we’re staying right here and doing it. It’s about time he started running from us.”

Sam turned to him and smiled. She gave him a kiss.

“Yes,” she said, “Us”

 

 

 


	7. Team Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abi tries out for cheerleading.

It had been two weeks, Ophelia’s grounding was over. It wasn’t a day later that she got a knock on the door by her friend Abi.

"Hey Abi, what can I help you with?" Ophelia said as she answered.

"Is it over, are you not grounded? Do you have your powers back?"

Ophelia held up her wrists to show that her inhibitor was gone. In its place was her floral scar, a side effect of long-term use of the inhibitor. The effect wasn't too harsh because the skin was still smooth like the rest of the arm, the scar looked more like a henna tattoo. Still, Abi grimaced at the sight, remembering the last time she saw it on her friend's skin.

"How long will that be there?" Abi asked

"It'll be gone by tomorrow, this has happened before." Ophelia looked at it mesmerized. The only times she can safely analyze her scars is when she has the inhibitor was taken off. She was repulsed by the side of it, but it was also fascinated by her. How could something so pretty be able to kill me? She would think to herself.

"Anyway," Abi said in her usual cheery voice. "I'm planning on trying out for the cheerleading squad and I want you to help me."

Ophelia used all her willpower not to laugh, her face red as she held her breath. She then couldn't hold back anymore and burst into a violent fit.

"Sorry, but no." Ophelia said as soon as she pulled herself together. "I don't do cheerleading. I respect that you want to, but I am not a fan of the sport, f you can call it that."

"Oh come on, Phe. You don't have to actually try out, I just need you to stand in for me so I can show them that I can work with people and lift them."

"Can't Em or Darcy do it? They are pretty athletic and I don't think they weigh much more than I do."

“A stack of paper weighs more than you. Darcy hates cheerleading and Em is stuck at play rehearsals. You are the only one available."

"No"

"Please, I was there for track try outs. I helped save your life."

Ophelia crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Only Abi could use a near death experience as leverage. Ophelia was embarrassed by that day already, she always considered Technus a criminal of minimal threat. She's seen her dad fight him a hundred times before and thought he was hilarious shouting out all his plans just to be foiled. She had fought him before, in self-defense, and had the same results as her dad. The fact he was close to killing her with her own ecto-inhibitor was mortifying to her.

"How long did you wait to pull out that card?" Ophelia asked, smiling.

"I was going to use it last week but you were in the big house then."

Ophelia shook her head and giggled. "Okay, I'll help you with your try outs. But I'm not wearing the outfit and no pom-poms."

Abi squealed and jumped for joy. "Yay, thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise, you won't regret this!" she ran down the doorsteps and skipped home.

 _I'm regretting it already_ , Ophelia thought to herself as she closed the door. She stared at her wrist as the scar started to fade away until it disappeared completely. _Whew, I was worried I was going to need bangles._

* * *

 

"Do you remember the routine?" Abi asked. She was in the locker room tying her shoes. She decided to wear something similar to a cheerleading uniform: a sporty tank and a pleated skirt with shorts underneath. She pulled her blonde hair in a ponytail, her turquoise eyes seems to be sparkling with anticipation.

"Yes, we rehearsed it a hundred times. It would be harder to forget the routine." Ophelia's arms were crossed as she looked at her friend. She dressed a t-shirt and knee-length pants. Her raven black hair pulled back into a ponytail with her bangs brushing right above her eyes. She didn't dress up like Abi did to make it clear that she wasn't here to show off, she was here to show Abi off.

"I'm nervous, what if they don't like it?" Abi was hyperventilating at the thought of rejection. Ophelia put her hands on Abi's shoulders and gave her eye contact. Abi wanted to look down to see if Ophelia was standing on the tips of her toes or just floated to be at her eye level. Abi was the shortest girl in her class until Ophelia showed up, and she reveled in the fact that she was at least taller than someone.

"Abi, you'll do fine. Your routine is pretty well choreographed for cheerleading. They would have to be extremely dense to reject you. Now, take a deep breath and calm down."

Abi did as Ophelia said. When she finally calmed she gave her friend a nod to show she was ready. They walked out into the gym where a panel of girls sat behind a table. One of the girls, Ophelia assumed to be the head, sat in the middle of the table. She had a dark complexion and curly hair worn down halfway to her shoulders. Her caramel colored eyes were on a clipboard while she was biting on a pen.

"De Fluer, Abigail?" the head announced.

"Here!" Abi exclaimed, her arm waving in the air. She then grabbed Ophelia and dragged her in front of the table.

"What's she doing here?" said the head cheerleader "It says here that only you were trying out."

"Well, I am. But I need my friend here to perform my routine." She was getting nervous very fast.

"Okay, let's see it." the head then scribbled something on the clipboard.

Abi and Ophelia set up.

"No flash photography or use of any recording device, please." Ophelia said before they started, she really didn't want to be there.

Abi started off. "Ravens strike, Ravens fly, Casper High Ravens will make you wanna cry. Fly, Ravens, fly."

Abi then did a back flip onto Ophelia's shoulders and then pulled one of her legs over her head. Abi then jumped off on a perfect dismount. Ophelia and Abi somersaulted to a spot. Abi got there first, Ophelia then duplicated herself and formed a pyramid around her. Abi held up all the Ophelia's easily and kept a smile on her face doing it. The Ophelia on top leaped down as Abi pulled herself out of the pyramid, another Ophelia was made to take her spot. Abi then did seven back flips until she reached Ophelia who flung her up to the top of the pyramid while she spun. Abi landed on the top without disturbing any of the Ophelias' balance. She stood on one leg for a minute then jumped straight up into the air. The Ophelia's dissolved until there were just two to catch Abi. Abi landed without falling over and the last of Ophelia's duplicate evaporated.

The panel was in awe of the performance, they applauded after a few seconds of silence. Abi was out of breath but happy. Ophelia was relieved to get it over with.

"That was great!" said the head cheerleader. "I haven't seen a routine like that in my life."

"Does that mean I'm in?" Abi asked excitedly.

"We'll let everyone know tomorrow, don't set your hopes too low."

Abi squealed, gave Ophelia a constricting bear hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I wouldn't have done it without you!"

"That's what friends are for." Ophelia managed to say without oxygen in her lungs.

Abi then screamed and ran off to get changed. Ophelia just stood there and stared for a while. _As long as she's happy,_ she thought. She was about to leave when the head cheer leader walked up to her. Ophelia sensed something in the girl that made her feel suspicious.

"Great job there, Phantom." She said in a falsely sweet tone.

"Not Phantom, but thank you, I guess." Ophelia answered. _She wants something..._

"You would make a great addition to the squad."

"What about Abi?"

"She's good, better than anyone I've seen. But you were better, with that trick of yours we would be the best squad this school has ever seen."

_It's always about the ghost powers._

"Abi is your cheerleader, not me. All I did was hold her up and duplicate myself. And besides, the school board has banned me from using my powers in any activity that counts as a sport. They count cheerleading as a sport for some reason."

"The Board is an easy fix, and I see potential in you."

"Sorry, but I don't do cheerleading." Ophelia was getting annoyed with this girl.

"Look, Phantom, I can afford to bring more than one person into my team. I can also afford to deal with less."

"So you won't take in Abi unless I join the team, is that it?" Ophelia's eyes were flashing in anger.

"It's your choice kid, you can choose to accept it or don't. But I don't believe Abi will handle the rejection so well."

Ophelia stormed off, she cannot believe what this girl was saying. She's willing to corrupt the school board and break Abi's heart to get Ophelia on team. No, not Ophelia, she wanted ghost powers on her team.

* * *

 

"What a witch!" Kitty said.

Ophelia was in the Ghost Zone. When she was grounded, she was also forbidden from going into the Ghost Zone and seeing her friends. So when she was finally free from her punishment she went over as soon as possible. She wanted to have some fun while she was here, but the ordeal with the head cheerleader upset her too much and she had to tell her friends as soon as she saw them.

"I know,right? I can't just say no, Abi really wanted to be on the team."

"Why can't you just say yes?" Asked Trix, "Cheerleading sounds like fun to me."

"Other than the fact that I hate cheerleading with a dying passion, it's also the principal of the matter. This girl thinks she can do what she wants and push people around. She doesn't even want me, she wants my powers. She wants to my powers to dazzle the crowd. I don’t know what my powers are meant for but they’re certainly not for parlor tricks."

"That's it!" Kitty exclaimed.

"You want me to offer the Queen Bee of Hearts to take Trix into the squad instead if me, right?"

"I would love to." Trix looked more than excited. "I never had cheerleading in my day, or I think I never got to be one. Anyway, I've seen it around my line of work and it looks like fun. And if I get an opportunity to know one of your human friends in the process, then that's an added bonus."

Ophelia stared at her orange haired ghost friend in disbelief. _She can't be serious_ , Ophelia thought, _who would want to be treated like a special effect?_

"Are you sure about this, Trix? This would be like Fantastic Fake all over again. I wouldn't want you to go through that ever again, especially for me."

"Ophelia, I love doing tricks. I love to entertain the masses. The issue with Finn was that he turned it into slave labor and wouldn't let me go home. I'm sure that won't happen here, so you have nothing to worry about. Besides, what could a bunch of human teenage girls possibly do to me?"

Ophelia smiled weakly. She knew her friend was right on some level. The cheerleaders wouldn't make her do anything that she wouldn't want to do originally and they would have no way to force her if they wanted to. She did want her friends to be happy, and if Abi and Trix hit it off it would ease the tension she felt between her ghost friends and human friends.

"Fine, I'll see if she'll let you join. But if I sense any trouble I'm getting the thing shut down."

Trix squealed for joy and hugged the half human tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. You wont regret this, I promise."

 _I know I've heard this before._ Ophelia patted Trix of the back.

"I think you and Abi will get along just fine."

* * *

 

Em managed to finish her rehearsals early that afternoon and decided to join her friends in watching the cheerleaders practice. She went out to the football field and found Ophelia and Darcy resting in the bleachers a little ways away from the rest of the Track team. She took a seat right next to Ophelia as she watched the cheer squad practice. Abi was in the middle of the group and doing well on her part. There was a girl right next to her that seemed familiar to Em. She had bright orange hair in a bob cut, and her eyes were blue. Em leaned over to Ophelia to ask if she recognized the redheaded girl.

"Don't you remember?" Ophelia said with her eyes still on the field. "That's Trix, the magician ghost. She made herself look human so she wouldn't stick out amongst the squad."

Em looked at the redheaded girl again. It really was her, a human version of her. She didn't look that different, but the appearance of life in the ghost completely threw her off.

"Can all ghosts do that?"

"Not all and few bother to use it. Trix is lucky she can alter her appearance, and so is Abi."

"Why is that?" Darcy asked.

Ophelia then explained to them the incident during the tryouts and the deal she made with the cheer captain.

"I don't know how, but she manage to pull the right strings to make Trix a Casper High cheerleader. She's ambitious, I'll give her that."

"And heartless," Em said indignant, "I can't believe she was about to toss aside Abi like that. I've seen you two rehearse the try out routine, she's amazing."

"Abi is amazing, but she can't do spectacular things like ghosts can. Or half ghosts."

"Cheerleaders," Darcy huffed, "they think they can do anything they want because they're so pretty."

Ophelia was fixed on the cheer captain, there is something really wrong with that girl. Ophelia tried to read the girl but barely anything came up, it was like something was protecting her from Ophelia's sense. That made her very suspicious.

"Do you guys know anything about the cheer captain?" Ophelia finally asked her friends.

"Portia?" Em replied, "Nobody knows anything about her really. She came into Casper High like the rest of us, but nobody ever saw her before that. There is no real history before the ninth grade, it was like she just appeared out of nowhere."

"Nobody ever thought that was suspicious?" Ophelia thought that would draw somebody's attention. She is one of the most popular girls in school and has no personal background. How does that not make anyone suspicious?

"No, not really. I don't know why but nobody really wants to know who Portia Geist is."

Ophelia's eyes widened as she stared at her friend in disbelief.

"Her name is Portia Geist? This girl drops out of the sky, takes over the popular crowd over night and nobody noticed that let alone the fact that her name is PORTIA GEIST! That is a dead give away if I ever saw one, no pun intended."

"I don't get it." Em said.

"Me, neither." Darcy added "What is wrong with the name Geist."

"Nothing, just forget about it."

Darcy and Em shrugged at each other and continued to observe their friends' practice. Ophelia watched too, but she was thinking.

_She must have something to mask her. I shouldn't worry about this, she should attend high school like everyone else. If she wants to keep it a secret and be treated like a normal human being than best of luck to her. She is not my problem._

* * *

 

Trix was having the best time of her afterlife. She had nearly forgotten what it was like to be a human, she couldn't even remember being one.. Everyone was so nice to her, especially Abi. Ophelia manage to let Abi in on the deal without mentioning the blackmail. The girl helped her with the routine after practice. She was the best help, Trix didn't know what she would have done without her. After practice she went over to hang out with Ophelia's human friends over at the Nasty Burger. They talked to her as if she really was human, rarely asking questions about her or the Ghost Zone. She willingly explained in exchange for questions of her own, there was so much to learn of the Human Plane and so much time for it. Ophelia was quiet, however, she just sat there and watched them speak. Trix was a little worried, but she assumed that Ophelia was processing the interaction between her friends. It wasn't until they had reached her realm in the Ghost Zone that Trix had got her to talk.

"Is there something on your mind, Phé?" She asked.

At the moment, Ophelia was playing one of the magic props in the parlor.

"Huh?"

"You were very quiet today, any particular reason why?"

Ophelia sat there in silence for a moment before speaking.

"You know the head cheerleader who we made this deal with?"

"Portia Geist, what about her?"

"Well I think she herself is a ghost."

Trix didn't know how to respond, her reaction was somewhere between shock and laughter.

"What makes you think that?"

"My parents would tell me of these times where ghosts would try to pass themselves off as humans, and Portia fits the bill nicely. She has no personal background that anyone knows of, she rose to popularity without anyone noticed and her name is Geist for Pete's sake. It isn't a neon sign or anything, but does say 'I'm a ghost' at a high volume."

"Are you planning on doing anything about it?"

"What is there to do? It isn't illegal for ghosts to attend school and she hasn't done anything wrong other than blackmailing me. She should be able to play human if she wants to and I'm not obligated to investigate."

Trix was perplexed at this. A teenage ghost passing herself off as human, not the worst thing to happen. But still, why would she want to hide herself?

"How about I talk to her about it the next time I see her?" Trix concluded.

"Do what you want, she's in your squad. When you do, ask her about the mind manipulation. She must be worried to be found out as a ghost to push the whole school like that."

Trix nodded in assurance. Ophelia gave the ghost friend a hug and left for home. When alone Trix looked around her realm. She managed to return her realm back to the condition she had before she became Finn's assistant. Had the interior decoration of a San Fancisco townhouse, she remembered that she used to live in one when she was human. Every room is riddled with props and magic tricks, the walls had posters of magic shows dating back to the nineteenth century. A phonograph was playing a vinyl album of a band Ophelia introduced her to, she thought the sound of vinyl was better than songs downloaded from a computer. To say that Trix didn't like the classics would be an absolute lie.

The realm reacted to her emotions of joy and the windows let in golden rays of sunlight. The flowers in her rooms bloomed in vibrant colors and she heard birds chirping knowing that she didn't have any birds. Her realm made her feel so peaceful, that was what she wanted it to do. She rested on a sofa in her parlor, a rabbit hopped out one of her props and sat on her lap. She stroked the white fur while meditating over the day's events. _Curiouser and curiouser,_ she thought. She smiled as she let her realm lull herself to sleep (another human habit she decided never to break).

* * *

 

The next day, Trix spoke to Portia after practice had ended.

"Ophelia told me about you, Portia. She thinks you're a ghost and you're pretending to be human."

Portia's eyes widened, she looked around and moved their conversation farther from anyone's range of hearing.

"How did she find out?"

"You have no background and everyone accepts that. And your last name is Geist, which to her is a dead giveaway. Why do you want to pretend to be human?"

"Because I _am_ human now. I'm a changeling."

Trix's eyes widened, she knew what a changeling was.

"Who are your parents?"

"They _were_ Frank and Vanessa Collins, they died in a fire last year. I talked to the family lawyer and he gave me a new family here, as well as a new name and documents to back it up."

"Who did you replace?"

"Portia Collins, died when she was seven. Car accident."

"If the Agency finds out, they'll end up taking you back. You know they are very strict about those kind of things."

Portia looked upset at the mention of the word "agency".

"That's why I changed my name. My logic was that Geist would be so painfully obvious that they would think it was just coincidental."

"Not when you’re in Amity Park, it isn't. Don't worry, I'll only tell Ophelia and she knows how to keep secrets. She hates little injustices like these so you will be in good hands."

Portia gave Trix a huge hug.

"I thought she would, that's why I wanted her on team. But you're better than I expected."

"Thanks." She smiled.

* * *

 

"So?" Ophelia said when she caught up with Trix later that day. "What did she say."

"She isn't a ghost, not anymore."

"Anymore? Since when do people not become ghosts?"

"You haven't heard of changelings?" Ophelia shook her head, she had a feeling she was supposed to.

"You humans lose more children than you know. Whenever a child dies, they become a special kind of ghost called changelings. Whenever a couple loses a child, a changeling would usually take their place before the parents know it. They have a natural ability to make people think what they want them to think, parents believe that the ghost is their child. If the changeling is there long enough, usually about a year, they become human taking on the traits of the child they replaced."

"Is that what happened to Portia? She replaced a couple's real child and became human."

Trix nodded.

"Her parents died in a fire last year. The protocol for that is that if the parents died while the changelings are still under aged, or if the changeling dies before they became adults, they become ghosts again and return to the Agency."

"There is an agency for this kind of thing?"

Trix nodded.

"There are so many children in the world as well as changelings that they needed one to stay organized."

"So Portia doesn't want anyone to know she's a ghost, or rather _was_ a ghost, because she doesn't want the changeling agency to take her back. Wait, what about Youngblood?”  
“Who?”  
“He's this ghost kid I used to be friends with when I was little. Wouldn't he be a changeling too?"

"He isn't, children don’t become changelings unless they want to become human or become a family again. Youngblood sounds like he loves being a ghost and a kid without parents to boss him around. There are a bunch of kids like that in the Ghost Zone. Honestly, I don't know a lot about this stuff. I just hear whispers about it here and there like most ghosts. I remembered when I died that a ghost asked how old I was, when I told them they said I was off by a year. They turned out to be part of the Agency."

"So how many people were changelings?"

"Like I said, I don't know a lot about this. But I guess that it has to be one tenth of the world's population."

"Whoa! How does one thenth of the population walk around with memories of being dead?"

"They don't. When a changeling hits puberty in human form they start to forget about their past life and afterlife. By the time they turn eighteen, they forget everything and cannot be taken back by the agency. You should've already known this, it's common knowledge in the Ghost Zone."

Ophelia sat on the sidewalk for a minute, trying to absorb what she had just heard.

 _So much to learn about the Ghost Zone,_ she thought, _so much I don't know._

"I'll won't let anyone else know." she said. "She only has four years, it shouldn't be too hard to keep a secret for four years."

* * *

 

The next day, Portia Geist was no more. Ophelia asked around where she went, only for no one to remember who she was. Her locker was cleaned out, records gone, her position in the squad replaced by the next in command. She asked her friends and no one remembered who Portia Geist was. That afternoon, Trix came to practice and went to Ophelia after she counted heads.

"Where's Portia?"

"I don’t know. No one knows who she was, it was as if she was erased from existence."

Trix's eyes widened in shock and she turned pale. Ophelia had a feeling of what she was going to say.

"Someone must have overheard us and turned her in."

"That couldn't be it. I would have sensed them if someone was, human or ghost."

"Then they must have caught with her then."

They stood quiet for a while, guilt rained over them.

"We could have been great friends." Trix said with grief.

"Yeah, I feel the same way."

"I hope she gets sent to a good family."

"Me too."

For what felt like ages, they just stood there in silence. Although no one had died, they felt like they were at a funeral. The Agency took Portia and her chance at becoming human. She only had four more years and now she had to start all over with a new family. And it was all their fault.

 


	8. Dream a Little Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fentons stay up late.

Danny and Ophelia came home late that night. Danny had to do a little overtime on the station and Ophelia wanted to stick around having nothing better to do on Earth. When they arrived it appeared that the whole town of Amity Park was asleep. That was scarcely odd as it was past midnight.

"Even though I haven't needed to go on night patrol since high school," Danny said with a yawn. "I never really stopped getting over the insomnia thing."

"I don't need to be up for anything." said Ophelia, almost too excited to avoid sleep. "If you want I could stay up with you until you get tired."

"No need, I'll be out in an hour. You should get some rest."

"I'm not that tired, I can wait an hour or so until you get tired."

"How about we both get ready for bed and see who stays up longer."

"Okay, be right back."

Ophelia ran up the stairs and Danny followed shortly after. He entered his room and found the familiar shape of his wife under the covers. She is so beautiful, he thought, no matter what she was doing. He was changing when he noticed that his wife's head was sparkling. He pulled the covers to find a helmet on Sam's head. He remembered that helmet well. Before he could do anything a blue wisp flew out of his mouth.

* * *

 

Ophelia was brushing her teeth, already clothed in her purple nightgown. She was thinking about the day she spent with her dad. It is true that she never saw him as much as she would like. But she knew he loved her more than the world and that made any time they spent together all worth while. Vlad was wrong, her dad was always there when she needed him.

She had just rinsed out the last bit of toothpaste when her ghost sense went off.

"It's probably nothing." she shrugged. There was no way she was wasting precious time with her father fighting some ghost who was just finding someone to scare.

Her attention was drawn when she sensed the ghostly presence inside her house.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" she angrily flew through her bathroom wall. She turned invisible so she can safely analyze the danger to see if she has to do anything.

The search led her to her parents’ bedroom. She found a swarm of green ghosts with their eyes sown shut. She remembered them as Sleepwalkers. She flew up to the ceiling and saw her dad fight off the Sleepwalkers with ease.

"The one night I can't sleep is the night you come knocking on my door." Her dad said while blasting away the ghosts.

When she thought her father was handling it she phased into the other room. He must be somewhere in the house, she thought, she shut her eyes and used her insight (or, at least its what she calls her special sense) to find the ghost.

There were Sleepwalkers everywhere, there dull colors filling her parents room as well as hers. She wasn't too surprise that he was looking for her. He tasted her dream energy before, and as he put it, it's a hard taste to quit cold turkey. She didn't sense him anywhere, which she thought was odd. She let herself turn visible, sensing no threat.

"Ah, so the ghost girl is also up late tonight."

She turned to face the night sky. When she looked a long ways up, her green eyes met with the red of Nocturne's. He was smiling, not at all threatened by the girl that stood before him.

"My, Ophelia, have you grown. And I see your scars have cleared away nicely. Though, I think I liked you better with them."

"Nocturne, I believe you have shrunk. Looks like the whole dream harvest thing doesn't pay as much as you want it to."

He smirked at her attempt to aggravate him, it was quite adorable.

"No dreams I have come across are the same as yours, I lose my appetite for them too easily. You don't know how addictive your dreams can be."

He snapped his fingers and Ophelia felt the Sleepwalkers form and grab her.

"Let me go!" she screamed.

She tried to radiate an electric shock, but it only tightened their grip. She found that intangibility didn't work on them either. Nocturne lifted her chin to make her look him in the eyes.

"So tense for a half ghost, maybe a little sleep will relax you."

She felt the mist enter into her eyes, making them heavy. She escaped from their grip and ran off. When she realized that no one was chasing after her she turned back. She was shocked to find herself in Nocturne's arms fast asleep.

"Whoa, how did I do that?" she said aloud.

No one stirred when she spoke. Nocturne held her in a more comfortable position and smiled at her sleeping face.

Ophelia threw a ghost ray at the ghost to get him to let her go. The blast just went right through him as if it had never happened.

"What on Earth?" she was confused.

"Sweet dreams, ghost child." he said while stroking her cheek, "where you'll be going you will never want to wake up. Take her to the house, he'll show you where to put her."

He gave the sleeping Ophelia to his henchmen and they went off as they were directed. Ophelia was shaking off the chills she got seeing him cradle her like a baby.

"Creepy, creepy, creepy." she shuddered.

She flew off before Nocturne realized she was there and went to her parents’ room. She found her dad taking a breath from beating down the last of the Sleepwalkers. His eyes widened in realization that he had forgotten something.

"Ophelia!" he shouted, unaware that he was only two feet away.

"Dad, I'm right here." she said. He didn't react at all.

"Ophelia! I really hope Nocturne didn't get to her."

"Dad, I'm right here. Nocturne has got another me but I got away. Dad! Can you even hear me."

Danny walked through Ophelia and out the door. That scared her because she knew that neither of them turned intangible to do that. She turned to her mom, who was still asleep with the helmet on.

"Mom." she walked over and tried to shake her awake. When she touched her she was sucked into her mother's consciousness.

* * *

 

Sam may have tamed herself a little when Ophelia was born, but she never lost her gothic livelihood. This is not reflected anywhere other than in her dreams. Her dream world is a cross between the Ghost Zone and Halloween Town. In her dream she was Queen of the Dead, with Danny as her king. She was convicting a spirit who had eaten flesh when a girl in a nightgown stood right between her and the accused.

"What the..?" Said the girl as she looked around.

"Ophelia? Wait, I don't have a daughter here."

"Mom, where am I? Do you dream like this every night?"

"Ophelia Lilith Fenton, what have I said about invading people's dreams?"

"I swear I didn't mean to. I just wanted to shake you awake but I somehow got sucked into your dream. I know you're a Goth and everything, Mom, but jeez. This is like Tim Burton's nightmare or something and your dressed up like Morticia for Pete's sake!"

Sam's cheeks flushed.

"Why do you need to wake me up?"

In her panic, Ophelia spoke so fast that it almost came out as one long word.

"Nocturne put you under some helmet and Dad was fighting Sleepwalkers and I was knocked out by Nocturne a but yet I wasn't and I saw myself get carried away and he was totally creepy and Dad didn't see or hear me and them I tried to shake you awake and ended up in spooksville and I don't know what's going on!"

Sam blinked as her daughter was catching her breath.

"That sounds like you projected yourself out of your body."

"What?"

"Astral Projection, your consciousness escapes from your body and wanders the astral plane. Dad couldn't hear you because he wasn't on the same plane. I read a lot about this after my first encounter with Nocturne."

"How can I fix it?" Ophelia was freaking out.

"I don't know, this has never happened before. Your father can't even do this. My theory would be to enter your own mind and wake yourself up."

"How am I supposed to that? I could be anywhere by now and Nocturne said I wouldn't want to wake up to where I would be. It may not be safe to be where I am."

"Dear girl, you are not safe where you are now."

Nocturne loomed over them in his tall stature. Sleepwalkers flanked him left and right, smiling at the two.

"My my Samantha, now I see where your daughter gets her looks from."

A chill came down Ophelia's spine while Sam flushed with rage and embarrassment. Like a reflex, Sam immediately herded Ophelia behind her.

"This is my dream, Nocturne! Get out!"

"I shall, as soon as she comes with me."

"Why do you want me?" Ophelia asked. "you already have my body…okay, that just sounded so wrong.”

"If you haven't noticed I'm the ghost of dreams, not the ghost of empty bodies. I cannot harvest energy from a body that doesn't even have a consciousness to dream. I need you to go back into your body so I can harvest your dream energy. If you come willingly I'll make sure not to torture too horrifically with nightmares… though from I have seen of your dreams, you tend to do that yourself."

"Not going to happen, Creep."

Nocturne smiled menacingly.

"Sleepwalkers, attack!"

As commanded, the Sleepwalkers charged at the ghost girl. She used her ghost ray in a sweeping motion, taking out groups of Sleepwalkers. Sam helped her daughter take down the creatures. She was well equipped in her dreams, and highly skilled. Suddenly, after she had taken out a significant amount of the Sleepwalker, the weaponry was gone and Sam was bound and floating towards Nocturne.

"Have you forgotten that I can control all dreams?" he taunted

"Have you heard that I learned to control mine?" Sam then burst into flames, melting away the bondages. When she touched the ground she resumed to her normal shape.

Ophelia managed to break free from the mob of Sleepwalkers and pounced at Nocturne. Something stopped her from hitting him with an ecto-punch and held her up at eye level with him. Nocturne laughed maniacally.

"Silly ghost girl, your very presence fuels me. Any attempt you or your mother make in your dreams fuels me. As long as you are in this dream I am all powerful."

"Then I guess it's time to wake up." Ophelia took a deep breath before collapsing to the floor.

"Ophelia!" Sam shouted in shock.

The disturbing floral scars appeared all over Ophelia's face and body. Blood blossoms were starting to bloom through the cobblestone street right where she laid and started to spread all over. Nocturne backed away instinctively, but his Sleepwalkers weren't as thoughtful and were evaporated on contact with the blood red flowers. Sam ran to her daughter's aid on to be tripped over and entangled by a thorny vine.

"No! Ophelia!"

The last thing she saw before she woke up was Ophelia completely buried by the flowers.

* * *

 

Ophelia fell head first out of her mother's consciousness. Ophelia was trembling until the scream of her mother's awakening snapped her out of it. A pang of guilt hit Ophelia in the stomach as she watched her mother sobbed. She didn't want to make her mother cry, but that was the only thing she could think of at that moment that could scare her awake. When she realized that Nocturne would surely follow after her she started running. When she hit a dead end she flew all the way up to the rooftop, phasing through two floors without even turning intangible. When she made it to the top she looked over the houses.

Her insight must be stronger as an astral projection because all the houses were glowing before her. They were like multicolored embers in a flame. When Ophelia looked closely into the embers, she saw silhouettes similar to shadow puppets. She decided that they must be glimpses of peoples' dreams. She needed a place to hide while, she hoped, her parents track down and retrieve her body. She couldn't go too far or else she will never know if it's safe. And she couldn't exactly follow her parents as she wasn't sure whether or not Nocturne is able to see her outside a person's dream. She concluded in hiding in somewhere along her street where she would know when her parents returned.

A thought had hit her: she could look into her friends’ dreams. They all live on the same street as her, and she was always curious of what people dreamed of. She had a perfect excuse to look inside since they would make perfect hiding places. If Nocturne spots her in the dream, she could sense him coming and run.

Ophelia flew down a few houses until she found Mick's house. _This might be fun_ , she thought as she phased through the wall. When she made it to Micks bedroom and checked if he was asleep. He was, but he had a helmet on. _I should have known he would supercharge himself with the entire city. At least this gives me another reason to look into his dreams._

With that she dove into Mick's mind and slipped into his dreams.

* * *

 

To say that Mick loved comic books had always been an understatement. When looking into his dreams made "fanatic" an understatement as well. His dreams looked like a comic book page, speech bubbles and all. It was separated into panels and nearly every action was emphasized by its onomatopoeia in bold face. Narration was in yellow boxes in between panels. It would be a shame if Mick never became a comic book artist if his dreams are directed like one.

In his dreams he was Mick the Mighty, a superhero who could double the physical strength of anyone he fought. He wore a basic superhero costume with a utility belt and an MM insignia on his chest. He was aided by his team the Mighty Many, a group of equally powerful superheroes. There was Em-azing, the crimefighting sorceress in fishnets; Punkrockette, the hard core rocker with a heart of gold and knuckles of brass; Mirrorman, able to copy any power or weapon thrown at him; Barricade, impervious to nearly any force and can produce shields that can withstand just about anything; Gossip, the girls who knows anything about anyone. Last but not least was the newest member of the team, Ghostly. Adorned in the colors of her father, this half ghost had all the powers of the supernatural.

They were fighting against Mighty's arch nemesis, the sinister Quarterback, when Ophelia appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey Mick." she greeted cheerfully.

Mick the Mighty stopped in his tracks and stared at the girl in disbelief. She was barefoot wearing a purple night dress. Her black hair a little more disheveled than usual. What surprised him was not that there were two Ophelia's at all, he knew she could duplicate, the strange part was this Ophelia was not in the same format as the rest of the world. She looked real.

"Ophelia? What are you doing here?'

"A better question is what is _she_ doing here." Ophelia pointed to Ghostly, who was just as confused as Mick was. "Seriously dude, I'll let it slide this time because everyone is dressed up but how many time do I have to tell you: I am _not_ a superhero!"

Mick the Mighty transformed back to Mick Earnest as everyone else vanished, leaving just the two of them.

"Why are you in a nightgown?" he asked.

"It's a long story. Is it okay if I hide in here for a while?"

"Where's 'here'?"

"In your dream, you do know you're dreaming right?"

"Now I do." he grumbled. "Wait a minute, are you the _real_ Ophelia?"

" I'm not sure how to answer that. I am her consciousness, I just developed astral projection as a skill."

"Do your parents allow this?"

"They wouldn't, but right now they are trying to get my body back."

"What happened to it?"

"Nocturne took it."

"Who?"

"Nocturne is the ghost of sleep, he gains power by 'harvesting' other people's dreams. He and my father go way back as do most of his enemies. He in particular is after me. He says my dreams are addictive because of their power or something of the like. Anyway, he's a total creep and had absconded with my body. Now I need a place to hide while my parents get my body back."

"Why are you hiding here then? Why can't you hide in the Ghost Zone or something?"

"Because one: I have to be near the house so I'll know when my parents bring my body back; two: your have one of Nocturne's dream pumpers on your head and I need to shock you awake to get it off; and three: I thought your dreams would be interesting to say the least."

Mick was red faced by both embarrassment and anger. Both were because a girl just invaded his privacy and looked into his mind.

"What are 'dream pumpers' and why can't you just rip them off my head?"

"They are special helmets that allow Nocturne to drain the oneiric energy from more than one person at a time. Normally, they give off an electric shock to anyone who tries to touch it, but I can't even touch you as a projection."

"Okay" said Mick as he pretended to understand what she was talking about.

"So, is this what you dream about every night?"

Mick blushed a little as he looked around at his dream with Ophelia. "Not always, but my best dreams are like this."

"Do you always dream of your female friends scantily clad like that?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"DUDE! All I saw was skin where I was standing. There are bikinis that are less revealing than that!”

"I've seen you in worse."

"You most certainly have n- wait, you mean in those comics about my dad? There are comics where I'm dressed like THAT! And you didn't even bother to TELL me!"

Mick shrugged.

"Well, not you per se, more like a…more developed original character taking your role. But there are a few that look more like you. If you haven't noticed, a lot of the guys think you're cute.”

"Yeah, ‘little kid’ cute, not ‘sexy’ cute. I'm not even pretty. "

"You're not ugly, either. To us nerds, 'not ugly' means 'pretty'. It shouldn't surprise you that nerds think about girls, _a lot._ "

Ophelia blushed as her visibility faded.

"So comic book geeks think about me like this..."

"A lot"

Ophelia shuddered and gagged at the same time.

"Gross! Now I miss being home schooled."

Mick laughed. He didn't care for her at all in a romantic way. In fact, once he got to know, he realized that she is as asexual a being as a storybook fairytale. Maybe that's why they called her Phé, because of her fairy like qualities. His superhero version of her is nothing like the skimpy outfits he saw on comic book covers and fan art. He dreamed of her in something like he saw in the magic girl manga his little sister collected.

At that moment, Ophelia's ghost sense went off.

"Darn, at least I get a head start this time."

"Is he coming here, in _my_ dream?" He was starting to panic a little.

"Not if I can shock you awake. Let's see, what is the most shocking thing I could do in such a short amount of time... Oh, I know."

White rings formed around Ophelia's waist and climbed up and down until they vanished at the toes and head of Abi de Fleur. "Abi" gave Mick a peck on the cheek and the shock woke him up.

* * *

 

Cujo was a great tracking dog. In no time flat they found Nocturne's hideout. It was an abandoned sleep clinic on the outskirts of town.

"Why do the bad guys always pick the most obvious place for a hideout?" Sam scoffed.

"Why do most of the hideouts have to be in the outskirts of town?" Danny added. "Are you sure Ophelia is safe?"

"Physically, no, she's in the spooky abandoned hospital. Consciously, she may have gotten away, but Nocturne's may be on her tail so we have to move fast."

Danny nodded as he picked up his wife and turned invisible. They flew up to the room of the hospital with the light on and phased in. They remained invisible as they looked around the room. Ophelia was still asleep and encased inside a large chamber. Danny shuddered when he realized it was the same kind of chamber Vlad used to try to clone him all those years ago. Wires were stuck to her in random places as her brainwaves and life signs were monitored. Her brain waves were very strange. Danny assumed it was because of her missing consciousness. The doors of the room swung open as Vlad Plasmius walked into the room.

"Plasmius!" Sam whispered.

"Why would Nocturne work for Plasmius?" Danny whispered.

"Why would Plasmius need Ophelia asleep?"

Plasmius looked at Ophelia as a Sleepwalker appeared by his side.

"Is everything ready?" Vlad asked. The Sleepwalker nodded.

"Excellent. Once her consciousness comes we can operate. All her little notions of love and loyalty to her family will change after a few hundred nightmares. A little brain surgery wouldn't hurt either. By the end of the procedure she will be loyal to only to me, and be more than happy to destroy the ones she once held so dearly."

A ghost ray hit him square in the chest and was knocked across the room.

"You will not lay a hand on my daughter, Plasmius!" Danny said as he made himself and Sam visible.

"Sorry Daniel, but there are no visiting hours today." He blasted Danny back and Sam got out of the way.

Danny shot back at him, only to be deflected by a pink ecto-shield.

While Vlad was distracted in the fight, Sam crept over to her daughter trapped in the chamber. She looked at the panel and tried aimlessly hacking into the panel to open the chamber door.

"Ugh, where's Tucker when you need him!"

When she tried to blast the door with her wrist laser, the Sleepwalker grabbed her wrist. She kicked the ghost and sent him flying, she then shot a blast from her wrist ray and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Bulls eye!" She smirked.

She once again tried blasting at the chamber door, but it bounced off the door and hit Danny as he flew straight at Vlad.

"Sorry honey."

"Try all you want, Samantha." Vlad mocked, "I've had that thing made to contain your daughter and her powers, I doubt a mere human with a cute little bracelet could be able to open that thing."

Danny knocked the villain to the next room, giving Sam more time to break the chamber open. Halfway into what she hoped would get the door open she turned her head to see an army of Sleepwalkers standing by her. She stared at the immense population wide-eyed.

"This is going to take a while.”

* * *

 

Ophelia had just jumped from Mick's dream to Abi's dream to Wal's stopped when she reached Darcy's house. She looked at the silhouette of her friend's dream. It looked like it was lit by a gas lamp. The shadow of and old-fashioned car driven by a girl in a victorian style hat and hair.

 _This looks promising._ Ophelia dove in, glad that Darcy had a helmet. She could get away with the whole "hiding from a crazed dream ghost" thing with most of her friends, but Darcy wouldn't buy that story even on her best days. She dove into her head, hoping that this time she would be able to hide a little longer than the other dreams.

Detective Darcy Adler drove to the crime scene where she was met by her companion Emilia Yume. The police allowed her to investigate and within minutes she gathrered enough evidence to get a suspect. The police scattered to gather the suspects for questioning, leaving the two girls (actually three) alone. Darcy noticed a girl in the garden. Darcy walked over to the girl, annoyed at her presence.

"Ophelia, what are you doing here?"

Ophelia looked up and smiled.

"Who do I play in your dreams? Am I a Lestrade, a Moriarty, a grief stricken client? I would ask if I am an Adler, but I have a feeling you double-casted yourself."

"Your parents must have a rule for invading other people's privacy."

_Wow she's good._

"They do, but tonight is a special exception."

"What makes tonight so special?"

_And for the sixth time tonight..._

"Nocturne stole my body, and about everyone on Willow Street has his special helmets used to 'harvest' their dream energy. I need someplace to hide that isn't out in the open. I've seen everyone else's dreams, with the exception of Owen, I thought it would be safe in a friend's dream. I won't be long through, at least I hope not."

"What if Nocturne comes?

"Then I'll wake you up to get the helmet off you, and take my leave."

"Why can't you just pull the helmet off?"

"Well first I'm only an astral projection, I can't touch anything outside a human consciousness. And second the helmet can't be touched anyway, it gives off an electrical discharge whenever someone tries to touch it."

Darcy thought about it for a moment and then shrugged.

"Okay, I'll buy it. You can stay, but you have to go along with the dream. You should have come here last night, I was dreaming about that play we saw the other night."

"Midsummer's Night Dream? Em was dreaming about that, too. You were Titania and I was Puck. You portrayed your character very well."

"She casted me as the fairy who falls in love with the guy with a donkey head?"

"Don't worry, Owen played Bottom. I think it was because she had nowhere else to put him. So what's the case, boss ma'am?"

"Well this one is particularly interesting, it's involves a magic coven and the Queen's prized jewels."

"Are there ghosts in this dream?"

"Strangely no, ghosts weren't declared real in Doyle's time. I like to keep as close to the stories as I can. Sometimes I put ghosts into the story, but this one is about skepticism so ghosts would mess up the story."

"That makes sense, so I shouldn't use my powers then."

"Probably not, but you can when you need to. The dream is steam punk so I can mix in a little sci-fi in there."

"No need, I'll be good."

They smiled and walked to the car, Em followed them. During the drive Em was filled in.

* * *

 

Sam was getting closer to getting the chamber open. A while back, Tucker taught her and Ophelia how to hack into gadgetry. Sam was only half paying attention while Ophelia got the whole trick down in minutes, needing only to be taught halfway and finding out the rest on her own. If only she and Ophelia could trade places right now. Even better, if only Ophelia wasn't in the chamber in the first place.

Cujo was in guard mode and taking down any Sleepwalker that tried to attack Sam.

Danny was in an intense fight with Vlad a few floors down. They were equally matched, neither being able to get an advantage over the other.

"Looks like you caught up with me, Daniel. How long did that take you, ten, maybe twenty years? I wonder where your daughter was when you were perfecting your skill?"

"Shut up about my daughter, Plasmius!" Danny was in a fury, giving a little advantage over Vlad.

"That poor little girl, left at home while her parents were away. Bad things can happen when a child is alone."

"She wasn't alone, she had her grandparents. She was safe until you came along."

"Don't be foolish, Daniel. She will never be safe so long as she is your daughter. She is the most powerful being to ever exist. Power is threatening, and how long do you think it will be until everyone is scared of her?"

"She has done nothing wrong to anyone. She would never do anything to hurt anyone, any injustice you think she has done to you is in your own madness."

"Is it? The Observants were wary of your existence to start with, and I believe they tried to kill you a couple times in the past. They must have been horrified to hear that Sam was pregnant. The day will come when the pressure will be too much for her to bear and she will snap."

"And you think it justifies what you did to her? She had to be home schooled for years because any time someone would ask about her scars she would break down in tears. All chances of a normal childhood was taken from her because of you."

"All chances of a normal anything was taken from her once she bore the name Fenton. Face it, Phantom, the day will come when she looks around her and wonder why she can't just take it. Will you be able to take her down when it does?"

"LEAVE US ALONE!"

He let out a ghostly wail that sent Vlad flying to the wall. His powers shorted out and he lost consciousness. It took a while for Danny to stop and when he did the foundation of the building shook. He grabbed Masters and phased to the room where Sam had just got Ophelia out of the chamber. Danny grabbed Sam and Ophelia and phased out of the building with Cujo following suit. They landed on a hill in view of the collapsing building.

"Maybe that's why they always pick abandoned places," Sam said "it's easier to close shop in a crumbling building."

"Ophelia is safe and we finally caught Vlad, all in all I'd say this was a pretty good night."

Just then Vlad disappeared in a puff of pink mist. Danny screamed out in fury.

"It was just a duplicate! That's why it was so easy to fight him!"

"Danny, calm down. Ophelia is safe, that's all that matters. We'll get Vlad another day."

"We better get home before Nocturne catches up with her. He can still feed off her consciousness with or without a body."

Sam had Cujo grow and loaded Ophelia onto his back and she rode home on him. Danny looked back at the rubble, contemplating what Vlad had said to him.

_The day will come when she looks around her and wonder why she can't just take it. Will you be able to take her down when she does?_

He half smirked at that. He knew that Ophelia would never become evil. The day she was born was the day all the shadows of doubt in his head went away. She was a blessing if he ever saw one. He wanted to rip Vlad apart for even thinking that she would be like him. Danny put his thoughts aside and flew home.

_We’ll get him. Be it today or tomorrow, we'll get him._

* * *

 

Darcy and Ophelia were closing down the case as everything around them vanished in a puff of smoke. The only thing was the night sky in a humanoid shape and red eyes.

"I am getting a little tired of this game."

His hand wrapped around Ophelia's neck like a tentacle and he pulled her close to his face.

"What, aren't you having fun?" She mocked.

His red eyes narrowed and he tightened his grip on her neck.

"Put her down." Darcy demanded. "You have no right to invade my dreams. Please leave, now!"

If the rest of his face was visible, a smile would be shown from ear to ear. He dropped Ophelia with a hard thud he melted into a puddle of starry ink and slithered towards Darcy once he was close enough he resumed his form, his red eyes piercing into hers.

"Do you really believe you have control over your dreams? I am the ghost of all dreams, I know every dream you've ever had including nightmares. I know all your fears and feed off of them every night. I can make your life miserable and you have the audacity to tell me to leave? I think that is very amusing."

The scene changed into a pink room, a perfectly square that was fully lit by an unseen light source. Darcy started to shudder, seeming to know what was going to happen.

"Darcy, what's happening?" Ophelia asked. As she did the walls, ceiling, and floors started in close in making the room smaller. Darcy was paralyzed with fear.

"You're claustrophobic? I would have never known."

She went over to Darcy and held onto her, turning her tangible. She dragged Darcy through the walls right when they were about to be crushed.

"Darcy, hey, Darcy. It's okay, we're outside. No walls, see?"

They were in the middle of a forest. The tall trees were evenly spaced and the sunlight bled through the canopy. Darcy calmed a little enough to stand up.

"Sorry you had to see that, I just can't handle enclosed spaces. I could feel the air thinning while I was in there. You're lucky you have those ghost powers, you just walked out of the room like it was nothing. Just know that you are blessed."

"Thanks," Ophelia said hesitantly, "I'll keep that in mind. It's okay to be scared, I have my own fears. The trick is to not let it get to you."

"What fear could you possibly have that's worse than the stuff you see every day?"

"This!" Nocturne's voice boomed through the woods.

Thorny vines wrapped around the trees and crept towards the young girls. Ophelia backed away a little, visibly trembling in fear. She grabbed Darcy and shot them into the air. They landed in the highest branch of the tallest tree. Both girls looked down at the ever growing black sea.

"Ophelia, what's going on? What are those things?"

Ophelia didn't hear her, she only stared at the vines as they climbed up their tree. As they got closer, the vines budded and bloomed blood red flowers. They looked a great deal like roses, though somehow Darcy could tell they weren't. Ophelia backed away to the trunk of the tree and slid down. She covered her eyes, shaking violently.

"They can't be real." she whispered "This is only a dream, nothing here can be real."

"They may not be the real flowers but they can still hurt you." said Nocturne from afar, too far to be affected by the flowers.

The flowers were getting closer to them. Ophelia turned completely white with fear.  If her eyes were open, they would be as dim as dead coals. Her scars showed, starting from her toes and spreading to her legs, torso, arms, face. Darcy stared at them and couldn't help but notice how similar the scars looked to the flowers making their way to them.

"Is that what caused the scars, those flowers down there?"

Ophelia looked down at the red weeds and then back up at Darcy.

"Sorry Darcy, but I have to wake you up."

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because of this."

She pushed Darcy off the tree. She woke up halfway down.

* * *

 

Instead of getting a head start, Ophelia waited for Nocturne to come out of Darcy's consciousness. He slithered out like a mist and she blasted him through the roof. She followed after him.

It was now dawn, the sky turning a deep shade of violet. The stars in Nocturne's body faded as the sun was peaking through. His eyes still glowed red, brighter now against his nearly pure black body.

"What's this Ophelia, tired of running around all night?"

"Shut it, creep. That was crossing the line, attacking my friend like that, making me do that to her. Now I want to fight. It's time to take you down."

His face showed now, and he was smirking.

"I believe this is where I should say 'in your dreams'."

She smiled as her hand glowed, a portal opened behind him. She blasted him square in the chest that sent him into the portal.

"It's morning, no time to dream."

Ophelia paused for a moment, staring at her hand and where the portal had disappeared.

“I wasted the whole night running around when I could have just done that?” she said to herself, “Seriously, Phé, get it together!”

Ophelia saw as the shadows in the embers faded as everyone was starting to wake up. The only house that still had shadows was Owen's.

_What has he been dreaming about this whole night?_

Ophelia flew into his room. It was covered in drawings of the Ghost Zone. Owen was an amazing artist, when Ophelia saw is doodles in class she decided to give him pictures she took of the Ghost Zone. He was amazed by the pictures, as he had never seen the Ghost Zone before. The drawings provoked the same feeling of awe he had when he saw the pictures. By his bed was a picture of him and Ophelia when they were on their class field trip to the botanical gardens. A sketchbook had drawings of his friends he made from memory, it was open to a picture of Ophelia with her green eyes colored in. Ophelia didn't notice this. She did notice that he wasn't wearing a helmet.

_He must have skipped this house. Guess I don't have an excuse anymore…oh well…_

She turned herself invisible as she dove into his dream.

* * *

 

Ophelia found herself back at the botanical gardens _,_ there was nobody there. The sound of chirping birds and running water from a fountain filled the air. Then there was laughing. Ophelia followed that sound to Owen and a dream version of herself sitting by the fountain laughing.

"This was a great day, Ophelia." Owen said, "I'm glad I spent it with you."

"Thanks Owen," the dream Ophelia said. "I just love seeing all the flowers bloom here."

"Except for the red ones."

She giggled at that.

"Yeah, except for the red ones."

"So Ophelia, there is something I wanted to tell you for a while now."

"What is that?"

Owen held her hand and looked at her sparkling green eyes.

"From the first day I knew you, I thought you were the most beautiful girl I've ever met. I care for you, more than you might know. Every day afterwards I think of ways to spend it with you. Any day I don't get to see you it feels like forever. Whatever future you might have, I want to be in it."

The dream Ophelia looked down.

"Owen, I don't think this will work. I'm dangerous to be around. You've seen what happened when I went for a walk with Darcy. And that time with Technus. I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you."

Owen held her hands up to shoulder level. The dream Ophelia looked up her eyes were watery.

"You always worry about other people and never about yourself. You keep your distance hoping nobody gets hurt caught in the crossfire. I don't want you to be alone because of your own fears. I don't care what happens to me, as long as I know that you aren't alone."

The tears streamed down the dream Ophelia's face and she fell into his arms. He held her tight, smiling peacefully.

The real Ophelia looked on in shock. If she were visible, her cheeks would have been bright red.

_Is that how he dreams about me? Is this how he feels about me this whole time? No wonder Mom calls me clueless._

A hand rested on her shoulder. Looked up and saw her father.

"Let's go, we've got your body and it's about time you need some sleep."

Ophelia nodded, they walked away from the scene as it started to fade away from Owen waking up. The last thing Ophelia saw before Owen woke up was he and her dream self leaning in towards each other, eye closed and lips puckered.

 


	9. Big Sister

She was wary when seeing him pass her by. She was careful what to say to him, worried it might steer him the wrong way. She couldn't just avoid him, could she? Whenever she saw him she considered turning invisible so she wouldn't have to talk to him, sometimes she did, sometimes she took the risk.

Ever since she saw Owen's dream, Ophelia was scared about talking to him about it. She knew he didn't see her in his dream, and that he wasn't aware that she could enter people's dreams at all. She let her other friends know not to talk to him about their encounters with her in their subconscious.

"Why?" Abi pressed on, "You all went into our minds to get those helmet thingies off of us. Didn't you have to let him know you were in his mind to wake him up?"

"He wasn't wearing the helmet." Ophelia admitted, "I invaded his privacy for no reason than my own curiosity. And don't think he would want to speak to me again if I told him what I saw."

"Well, what did you see?" asked Wall.

Ophelia's eyes blazed. "Sure, why don't I tell all of you Owen's personal thoughts. While I'm at it, how about I share with the five of you each of your dreams and the dirty little secrets behind them."

They all shuffled in their picnic bench, their lunches suddenly gained their interest.

"That's what I thought." She looked up and saw Owen head towards the table. _Oh no, why now! I can't leave without an excuse, and he's looking right at me so I can't just disappear._

"Hey Ophelia," Owen greeted, "long time no see. I kind of missed you."

_Did I hurt his feelings?_

"Yeah, well I've been kind of...um...busy, with...uh.. stuff."

Owen looked perplexed, "Stuff, huh, what kind of stuff have you been doing lately?"

_Make something up, for the first time in your life just make something up!_

"I, uh..."

"FENTON!"

An irate Coach Baxter walked in dragging in little Cujo by the nape of his neck. Cujo had what remained of a football in his teeth.

_Not exactly the escape route I was hoping for, but I'll take it._

"Explain to me why I found your dog demolishing my field and destroying my football equipment?"

Ophelia shrugged.

"Cujo likes footballs, what can I say?"

"Well you can think of what to say while you repair my field, starting now."

_Salvation!_

"Yes-I mean, aw, no fair!"

"Just be lucky I'm letting you stay on the track team. Now send your dog home and meet me in what remains of my field."

He dropped the dog and walked off. Cujo immediately hopped onto Ophelia's lap and dropped the football. Owen glared at Baxter's direction.

"I don't get why Baxter has it out for you. He punishes you more than anyone else."

Ophelia shrugged.

"In his defense, I'm not exactly a star pupil, am I? I better go, no need to get him more upset with me."

"Maybe I can help you-"

"No, no, it's okay. I can handle it on my own, I don't want you to waste your afternoon for me."

"I wouldn't be wasting it if I would be with you...You know, since you're one of my closest friends."

"Yes, I know" _unfortunately,_ "but seriously, I'm okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

Ophelia tried not to see the flicker of disappointment in Owen, though it was hard not to.

"Alright then, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Cool, bye."

She scurried off with ghost dog in tow. When she was out of sight of her friends, she put Cujo down and scratched his little ears.

"Good boy, Cujo, that was a nice save. Though next time, how about you do something that doesn't result in me doing manual labor."

Cujo yapped and assaulted her in wet doggy kisses. Ophelia giggled in the sweet display of affection.

"I love you too, Cujo. Now go home before you get me into more trouble."

With another yap and a kiss, Cujo vanished into the air. Ophelia expected to see him hogging all the pillows in her room.

* * *

 

Despite having to reconstruct an entire athletic field, Ophelia was the first one home that evening. It was a good thing too, since it was her night to cook dinner. Her parents were on their way home from work and would arrive in no more than half an hour, she could see how far away they were. Some of the food was cooling while some was still simmering in the pots and pans. She started setting the table, she decided to use her mother's favorite china set with a black and purple color scheme. The Fentons weren't expecting any guests this evening, but Ophelia set a fourth plate at the table anyway. She was finished cooking the last dish when her ghost sense went off. She smirked while trying to repress her giddiness.

She felt a tap on her shoulder, she didn't turn around. She already knew she wouldn't see anyone behind her. An apple floated from the fruit bowl and a bite was taken out without any sight of teeth. Ophelia ran over and hugged the air.

"Big sister! I missed you!"

A moan was heard before Dani appeared. She wore jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt that were in need of a good wash. Her black hair pulled back in a messy ponytail with only one of her blue eyes visible. Because she is a clone, she ages even slower than normal. Instead of looking like she was in her mid-twenties (as she was chronologically twenty-four years old) she looked barely eighteen.

"No fun, I can never surprise you."

"Maybe because you forget to mask your ghost half so I can't sense you come in."

Dani face palmed herself.

"Tch, now you tell me."

"Anything for my big sister." she giggled. "So, what brings you to Amity?"

"You know, this and that."

"It's been a year already?"

"Yup."

After Phantom Planet, people started to become aware of a pre-adolescent girl with ghost powers and started to become uneasy. She managed to bluff her way around the country for a while until the Guys in White caught up with her. By that time, Danny and Sam were twenty one and already married. They cleared her out by adopting her as their own kid. The only issue was that she had to stay with them at least one month a year until she was legally an adult (which, because of her physiology, was bumped up to twenty four). This is her last year that she must abide by these rules.

"What am I going to do without seeing you every year?" Ophelia said, bummed.

"What you do on the other eleven months." Dani replied, "And I won't be gone for good, I'll still come to see you for birthdays, Thanksgiving and Chri-"

Ophelia's eyes flashed a violent and blinding green. Her hands, balled tightly and painfully into fists, were charged and glowing with ecto-energy.

"Don't you _dare_ mention that word in this house!"

Dani held up her hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, sorry. I forgot about the day that shall not be named. Would December 25th be a better name?”

Ophelia released the tension in her hands as the glowing dimmed with her eyes.

"That's what we call it."

She sat down at the kitchen counter and stared at her hands, ashamed to have such a reflex directed at her own sister. Dani sat next to her and tried to steer clear of the worst subject in the Fenton family history.

"Anyway, I've been applying to a few colleges too. Just waiting for the results."

"We've seen that, we put all you acceptance letters in your room."

"How many are acceptance?"

"All of them."

Dani blinked in surprise.

"Wow, I knew that Fenton was a powerful name, but I didn't know it was that powerful."

"It also helped that you got a near perfect score on you SATs and the ACTs and you had aunt Jazz write one of your letters of recommendation. Congratulations, by the way. I'm glad you finally decided to settle down."

Dani grabbed the back of her head and looked at the floor, just as her adopted father and genetic donor does when he's bashful.

"Yeah well, I've seen what I wanted to see. Done what I've wanted to do and everything. Now I want to be a little stable."

"So, what are you planning to major in."

"Astrophysics, I still want to work in the space program."

"Well, if you want to apply to NASA you have Dad's letter of recommendation."

Dani smiled at this and took another bite of her apple.

"Oh my gosh, this is so good."

"I know, right. We have a tree out back, it was dead when we got here. Nothing's better than fresh apples."

"You fixed the tree?"

"Yep."

"Hm, and no ectoplasmic after taste? You're really getting a hang of these powers. You keep this up, and you might be more powerful than Danny by the time you get out of high school.”

Ophelia's expression darkened.

"Yeah, I've heard that before.” She took a moment to regain her cheery expression, “Do you want to help me with dinner?"

"Sure."

* * *

 

Dinner was ready by the time Sam came home. Dani and Sam greeted each other with hugs and screeching (lots and lots of screeching). These were the very few occasions that Ophelia sees the two act girly, and she drank in the strange ritual. Ophelia interrupted when she sensed her dad down the street.

"Quick, Dani, turn invisible. This will be hysterical."

Dani followed her lead and disappeared. Ophelia tried her best not to smirk when her dad walked in through the front door.

"Honey, I'm home. Man, that sounds weird."

"Dad, dad, thanks goodness your here. I think there's someone in the house."

"What! An intruder, where!"

He transformed into Danny Phantom, hands charged and ready to fight.

"I don't know honey." Sam added, "I think it's a ghost, but Ophelia can't sense it."

"Well, I can. Get behind me, I don't want you to get hur-"

"BOO!" Dani appeared right in his face.

Danny jumped back and screamed, nearly knocking himself to the ground. The three women burst out laughing and high-fived each other.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" Dani said between laughs.

"Ha ha, very funny. Glad to see you home, Dani."

"Glad to be home, cuz."

"Danny," Sam interjected, "this is Dani's last year. After this month, she isn't legally bound to stay with us anymore."

Danny frowned for a split second before masking it with a smile.

"Yeah, I know. Why don't we make the best of it? You know Dani, the offer is still on the table. It has always been even before all this."

Dani finished the last bite of her apple. She tossed the core into the air and blasted it dead center with an ecto-ray shot from her pistol-shaped hand.

"You know my answer, my mind hasn't changed since last year. Look, how about we do what we usually do: have dinner, I tell you my stories, and the two of us go on night patrol with Valarie for old times sake."

With a reluctant smile, Danny agreed. Dinner was served.

* * *

 

Ophelia dressed in her sister's hand-me-downs, so today she dressed like a tomboy. She wore a black concert tee cut down to a tank top, with the band’s autograph’s still on it. The faded jeans were a little big on her, as she was much smaller than her sister, so she held them up with a studded belt with half the studs fallen off. The doc martins were worn to comfort, Dani's fingerless gloves had the same wear as the boots, but with scorch marks at the palms. Ophelia liked wearing her sisters clothes, they told her stories of Dani's travels that she may have omitted for reasons unknown. When she was little, Ophelia thought that kids complained about their hand me downs because they didn't want to know what their big siblings did. After a few awkward conversations with a handful of kids, her theory was easily disproved.

She decided to blade to school today, despite the fact that she saw Em leave half an hour ago. She tip-toed by Dani's room, she sensed that she was still asleep. The shadows of her dreams were flickering in her mind’s peripheral vision, but she respectfully restrained herself from seeing their actual shape. She grabbed a shiny red apple from the bowl in the kitchen, bade her parents good morning, and headed off to school.

When she arrived, her friends met her at the spoke.

"I saw your dad last night on patrol. Who was that girl with him?"

"That's my sister, Dani." Ophelia answered.

"You don't have a sister," Em said, "You told me you're an only child."

"I am.  She's my adopted sister. My parents adopted her before I was born."

"But she looked just like your dad. It was like they were twins or something."

"They are 'something', Dani is my father's clone. I guess that would count her as my half-sister? It’s complicated, my family is complicated."

All their attention was immediately pulled towards her.

"Since when did Danny have a clone?" Asked Mick.

"Since he was fourteen and she was biologically twelve."

"Well then, 'how' is a better question." Owen asked.

She could tell that he really wanted to know. Whether it was because he was truly interested in her sister or because he wanted to know more about her she wasn't sure. She fought the urge to turn invisible as she recited the story she wounded up telling every year.

"A long time ago, there was a crazed up fruitloop who wanted to turn my dad into his surrogate son. When he refused about a hundred times, the Fruitloop decided to make his own son...out of my dad's DNA. In the process, he made a lot of 'mistakes'. Clones that were too unstable to withstand solid forms nor the free will to. When they used too much of their borrowed powers, they would dissolve into ectoplasm. One of those 'mistakes' was a twelve-year-old girl he named Danielle Fenton, or Phantom when in ghost form. She called herself Dani, with an ‘i’.”

Ophelia looked around at her friends. They were hanging on to every word she said, interested in hearing about her father’s famous adventures from the mouth f a Fenton. When she was sure that they wouldn’t be satisfied with what she already told, she went on.

"He watched as all the others dissolve without regret, without grief, without a single care. He found a way to stabilize his clones, but he would need my dad and his mid-morph DNA to do so. He sent a few of the clones to retrieve him, knowing that they would bring him back or he would either destroy them in combat or by having them use up all their energy. He manipulated Dani, the only one of his clones to have humanity and free will, into thinking that he cared for her like a father. He even had the nerve to call her 'daughter' even though he cared for her no more than the clones that he had made and melted before her. He used her to abduct my dad and take a sample of his mid-morph DNA. He planned on making a new clone, letting Dani melt away and have my dad killed soon after.

"My dad, however, was able to talk to Dani. He helped her realize that her 'father' saw her as nothing more as a tool, a failed experiment, 'a mess that he's not gonna clean up' as he always told me. She then decided to help my dad by freeing him. Incidentally, they ended up destroying the clone while it was being formed. The Fruitloop was in a murderous rage, and neither my dad nor Dani were in a condition to fight him. If it weren't for my mother and my godfather's last minute intervention, they would have died. Dani disappeared, flew off to the world to live her own life.

"She still travels, I only see her a handful of times a year."

"What about her instability?" asked Darcy, deeply entranced by the story. "She wasn't stabilized, wouldn't she have melted a long time ago?"

Ophelia snapped her head up as if she came out of her own trance.

"Oh, right, that. I almost forgot that part of the story, thanks.

"A good amount of time had passed after that incident. My dad became stronger and gained more power. The Fruitloop gained his own form of power. He rigged the elections and became mayor of Amity Park. During all this time, Dani had become weaker and weaker. She could barely walk, let alone fly. She conserved as much energy as she could to return to Amity Park for help from my dad. The Fruitloop learned of her arrival before him. He planned on melting her down and studying the remains to see how she managed to outlive all the other clones. He convinced my godmother, who back then hated ghosts with every fiber of her being, that Dani was an evil ghost out to get him. With that and a generous sum, he had her retrieve Dani for his heinous plan. My dad found Dani, and with the help of Valarie (who by this point knew that she was no more than an innocent little girl) he managed to rescue Dani. He used my grandparents technology to stabilize her. She was more free than ever to do what she wanted, and ever since she has taken advantage of that fact."

Her friends looked at her in bewilderment of her story.

Em broke the silence.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Phé, but you have the craziest family in history."

Ophelia shrugged her shoulders.

"What can I say, I wouldn't trade them for the world. Not even if you threw in the Ghost Zone."

"How long is Dani staying for?" Em asked.

"This in her last month. She was legally bound to stay with us at least one month per year until she was counted as an adult. She will be next year. I want to get as much time with her as I can before the month is over. I hope it will excuse my possible absences for the month."

"Do what you want, Phé." Abi replied. "I have an older brother who has a family and I barely get to see him either. We wouldn't mind seeing her either, would we?"

"Sounds like the only chance we can." Mick agreed.

The bell announced they had only minutes before their class scattered to their classes. One of the ghosts in the hallways waved to Ophelia, she gave them the peace sign as she walked on.

* * *

 

At lunch, Dani dropped by.

"Hey Dani,” Ophelia greeted, “came for the cafeteria food?"

"No thanks, I have your dad's memories of the taste in my head. Blech! Do you want to go out to eat?"

"Um, Dani, freshmen don't go off campus for lunch."

"Who said you were leaving campus, duplicate yourself and leave the double here. No one would know."

"I don't know Dani, last time I did that to get out of school they made me sign the Contract."

"You'll be fine. I'll take the fall if anything happens. I found this place by the park that makes the best ice cream."

Ophelia replied by looking around and duplicated herself when the coast was clear.

"We have fifty minutes."

They turned invisible and walked off campus as the duplicate went to the cafeteria to meet up with her friends. The girls were unaware that they were being followed.

* * *

 

"- So then I looked him straight in the eye and said 'now you only have two options, you could leave right now and don't come back or your could feel the fury of my ghost ray.' and he flew away."

Even though Dani told the same story over and over (at least they all sounded like the same story told over and over) she always seemed to hold Ophelia's attention. She was listening intently as she ate her strawberry sundae.

"How about you," Dani continued, "do you have any stories to tell?"

Ophelia thought about it and shrugged.

"There was a bounty on my head for a while. I got the guy to call off the hit. Made new friends on the first day when they were spying on us. Made another friend when I went to a magic show..."

"You hate magic shows."

"I was dragged by one of my friends. As you saw last night, Cujo found his way here, turned Technus into a chew toy. And Vlad tried to lobotomize me while having Nocturne torment me with endless nightmares."

"WHAT! When did that happen?"

"A week ago, but Dad saved me as you can see. All in all, a typical year in the Fenton household."

"Why is Vlad so hung up on turning you into him?"

"Why does Vlad want to turn me into his surrogate, why does Vlad want to destroy Dad, why did Vlad want to turn Dad into his surrogate son, why did Vlad try to destroy our grandfather years ago and then try to marry our grand mother, and why did Vlad create you and try to destroy you? To me, the answers to all of them are that he's a sadistic psychopathic fruitloop who uses his bitter loneliness as an excuse to make other people suffer. But that's my opinion."

"No, it's definitely not _just_ your opinion. I think it's safe to say that everyone who's met him thinks he's a fruitloop. I remember the first year of my life the moment that I realized he didn't care about me. Everything seemed to click into place upon that epiphany, I was surprised to find out all the things I chose to ignore. If I had actually paid attention, I would have seen him for the evil fruitloop he truly was."

"Amazing the things you learn in hindsight." Ophelia was hugging her knees and looked at the floor. Dani had a feeling they weren't thinking of the same thing.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You know when something bad happens how when looking back, you see how it could have been prevented. All the accidents we make because we didn't stop and analyze the situation. And because of that, people get hurt. The people you care about the most, the ones you try to protect, they always seem to suffer the most."

Dani dug into her pocket and pulled out a shiny new penny. She handed it to Ophelia.

"What's on your mind?"

Ophelia looked at the coin.

"I thought they stopped making these before I was born."

"You'd be surprised by the things one finds on the road, with or without ghost powers or inter-dimensional transportation. So, as the old phrase goes, penny for your thoughts?"

Ophelia rested her head on her knees and looked forward. She didn't want to say what she was thinking about at the moment, so she thought of the next best thing.

"Owen, my friend and neighbor, I found out he likes me. He's had a crush on me since day one and I was too blind to see it."

"Did he tell you?"

"No, well not really. I snuck into a dream of his, that's how I know. I spent most of the week avoiding him, hoping he won't finally spill his guts out and I would end up breaking his heart. Though it looks like he's not aware of his own feelings, but it's a risk I'm not willing to take."

"How did you figure that out?"

Ophelia bit her lip. There was only one person in the world who knows about her insight, the one who explained to her that it wasn’t what people called “intuition” and no one could see what she sees. Ophelia made that one person swear into secrecy, she would never tell a soul, living or otherwise, unless Ophelia told first.

Dani wasn’t that one person.

“I just notice things, that’s all.” Ophelia said a little too defensively, “I’m pretty sure he’s in denial about feeling that way about me, or maybe he just doesn’t want to feel that way about me. Whatever it is, at least I have some time to figure things out myself.”

"Why, do you like him?"

"That's the problem: I don't know. I see him as a friend, best friends even. He's the kind of person I could trust with anything, I might even trust to know about... December 25th."

A twinge of pain across Dani's face told Ophelia she understood what she meant.

"I can't see myself with him in anything serious. But I also know he's a sweet guy, he doesn't just see me like everyone else does. He would make great boyfriend material. He would be probably the best boyfriend I could ever get here, or anywhere for that matter. But I don't really think I like him like that, and I don't want to ruin our friendship by seeing whether I'm right or not. Oh, why can't I just skip this sappy teenager crud!"

Dani patted Ophelia on the head, she knew it was a precursor to the big sister lectures that she does so well.

"I know exactly how you feel. I've been through the whole dating thing before. Twice if you count Danny's memories embedded into my consciousness. Trust me, I have broken hearts just as many times as my heart has been. It doesn't really get any better. You'll sort yourself out. The best thing to do is usually to think before you do anything. You shouldn't worry too much about it."

At that moment, both Dani's and Ophelia's ghost sense went off. Ophelia sensed that they weren't friendly passers by.

"Should I worry about that?"

She pointed to the crew of ghostly police officers, headed by a ghost with a cape and eye-patch.

"Danielle Fenton, a.k.a. Dani Phantom, you are under arrest for numerous breaches of Ghost Zone law."

"Dani," Ophelia said to her sister, in a rather childish manner, "What did you do?"

"Those are Walkers pitiful rules, they have no real value in the Ghost Zone let alone on Earth."

Dani said this as she transformed into her ghostly alter ego, ready to fend off the hoards.

"Regardless, rules are rules.” Said the eye-patched ghost, “I do believe that breaking a criminal out of prison is a felony in both dimensions."

"You WHAT!" Ophelia screamed in shock.

"I'll explain later."

"Then I'll help you later." Ophelia crossed her arms and stayed on the bench.

Dani shot her an exasperated glare.

"Fine, be that way. You get to watch me kick intangible butt."

One of the guards already pounced at Dani but she managed to dodge out of the way. She fired an ecto-blast that knocked the guy out. More came after her and she was able to beat all of them in a large blur of punches, kicks, and ecto-energy. When she was the only one standing, the lead ghost with the eye patch sucker-punched her and knocked her down. When she tried to get up he fired one of his weapons at her hands, the blast formed a pair of handcuffs wrapped around her wrists. The force from the blast knocked her down again. He took this opportunity to shoot her at the ankles too, making her unable to get up.

"Ophelia!" she screamed to the immovable girl on the bench.

"Explain and then I'll help you." She said indifferently.

Dani groaned.

"Fine. Walker arrested Wulf for 'unauthorized transportation between dimensions' and put him in jail. He helped me on the road so I felt that I owed him. I tried to bail him out, I tried to get him legal representation, I tried all the normal, legal stuff and Walker just ignored me. I even got a pardon from the Observants and he tore it up in my face. Having no other options left, I busted the poor guy out. I've been on the run even since."

Ophelia's eyes flashed like a ball of pure green fire.

"Typical Walker, he makes up so many useless little rules to get people into his jail cells and doesn't bother to even follow the rules already established. Okay, I'll help you out." She turned to the bounty hunter. "Excuse me sir, but you are outside of your jurisdiction, and I do not believe you have a warrant for her arrest in this plane. That is a violation of her rights according to the Wraith's Act. Until you gather a warrant signed by a judge or magistrate of both universes, than I have to demand her release as you have no right to arrest her."

"And what if I don't care for your laws?" he smirked.

Ophelia's eyes blazed.

"Then, as an enforcer of the law under the Bystander Contract. I must take you in. You have a choice to come in willingly or by force."

He chose force.

As he aimed his weapon to restrain her, she moved aside and blasted the weapon out of his hand. She materialized a rope of her own to tie him with. She lassoed him and he fell to the ground with a single tug. She hogtied him and headed over to Dani when she was sure that he wasn't getting out. She dematerialized the cuffs on Dani's hands and feet.

"That was too easy." Ophelia said with suspicion.

Dani walked around to check on all the ghostly officers.

"Yeah, I know they aren't the hardest to beat, but still..."

At that moment, one of the officers grabbed Dani's wrist and a shock went through her system. The voltage made her transform to Fenton and she lost Ophelia was going to go over to help her, eye-patch grabbed her and the shock went through her system. She hit the ground hard, her scars crawled all over her skin. Something about her appearance was strange, the faint glow she seemed to always have was gone. Before she shut her eyes, they seemed to flash from green to purple.

* * *

 

By the end of lunch, Owen followed Ophelia to her next class.

"Hey Phé, got a minute?"

She turned and smile, her eyes were sparkling like jewels.

"Sure Owen, what do you want to talk about?"

He was shuffling he feet, which suddenly gained his attention.

"I just noticed that we haven't been hanging out much. Whenever I went over to your house your mom would tell me that you're off with Em, or Darcy or off to the Ghost Zone with Trix or people I haven't met. I think we should hang out more. How about we go out somewhere? I know this really awesome place downtown. No crazies, but I see ghosts hang out there from time to time. What do you say?"

Ophelia smiled.

"Sure, I can check if Abi or Darcy or Em would want to go."

Owen looked disappointed. He stared at the floor.

"I meant the two of us, together. I guess you can count it as a-"

At that moment Ophelia disappeared in a wisp of mist. Owen was now talking to the air.

"date?"

He looked around and waved his hand around the spot where she stood in case she just turned invisible. He was patting the air.

"Phé? Are you messing with me?"

No one responded.

"Okay, this cannot be good."

* * *

 

Ophelia woke up in a prison cell. Dani was there at her side, wearing a striped jumpsuit.

"Thank goodness you're okay." Dani said.

Ophelia sat up and brushed the black hair from her eyes.

"What happened?"

"Walker's goons shocked us with a Maximus."

"A what?"

"A Plasmius Maximus, it's a device that shorts out the ghost powers in halfas _._ I don't know how it affects someone with your genetic structure. I was worried that you weren't going to wake up again. Your scars are showing so I thought the worst."

With wide eyes, Ophelia looked at her arms. Lo and behold, underneath the striped sleeves were the horribly beautiful floral pattern carved into her skin. Her ghostly immune system must me fighting against the affects of the device and thus weakened her severely.

"How long does this last for?"

"The original Plasmius Maximus lasted for only three hours, but I don't know how long these new versions are nor do I know whether or not the effect takes longer to wear off on you."

"We're in the Ghost Zone, right?"

"Pretty much."

"Can't we just walk through the walls? We are human after all."

"Tried it, they did something to the walls. It must be the reverse version of a ghost shield."

Ophelia tried to get up from her bed in the cell, but she was too weak to stand and had to sit back sat right beside her and held upright.

"Easy there, Phé." Dani said to her weakened little sister.

"How are you doing so well?" Ophelia said, breathing heavily.

"I'm your dad's clone, and thanks to him I’m just as stable as he is. If my ghost half is shorted out, then I have my human half to fall back on without any harm. My guess is that since you have a fifty-fifty genetic structure, half of you has been shorted out, and the other half, your incomplete human half, is trying to support you as a whole."

"Why am I not in the infirmary, then? I can't even stand up." she needed to lie down again.

Just then, the door opened and Walker came in with Eye-Patch. He smiled at the frail figure on the bed.

"Ah, that's what I want to see." He said "All the rule breakers put in their rightful places.”

"You're one to talk!" Ophelia managed to scream at him, "This is wrongful imprisonment. You have no right to arrest Dani or even me for the crimes that we have supposedly done. Do you think this will stand well with the Observants?"

"Who says the Observants will hear any of this? You and your family have been promoting anarchy in my world for years now. You're very existence is both within and without my juris diction. You halfas believe you are entitled to break every rule in my book. The Observants love you and humanity so much that they ignore your criminal record. Not anymore! As judge, executioner, jury, executioner, and appointed executioner, I find you guilty of all charges pressed on you by the Ghost Zone Police Department. I sentence you to the death penalty, decided by me. I'll make sure it is as slow and painful as you deserve."

"This isn't right, Walker." Dani shouted to the white clad warden. "We've both done your job in the Human Plane and the Ghost Zone. We have enforced and protected the law and sent enough criminals to make up for Danny's prison riot tenfold as well as make up for any infraction we may or may not have committed. Why would you want to kill us?"

"You're halfas, as long as you're alive you break a rule in my book. A human enforcing the law for the Ghost Zone, that's against the rules. Humans acquiring residence in the Ghost Zone, that's against the rules. Being a human-ghost hybrid that allows you to be immune to the laws of both dimensions, that's against the rules."

"Is the ink still wet from when you wrote it down in your silly old book?" Ophelia mumbled from her bed.

Instead of getting angry, he just smiled.

"Enjoy your stay in my prison, ladies. I try to make my convicts as comfortable as possible, when they are on death row."

He laughed as he left the prison cell.

"You know," Dani said thick with annoyance, "sometimes that guy is more bipolar than the Lunch Lady."

"I'll say."

"What should we do now?"

"Pray long and hard for a deus ex machine? I'm too weak to move and I don't think we can get out even if you got your powers back. I'm hoping me disappearing right in front of Owen drew his suspicions."

"Your copy was talking to him when your powers shorted out?"

"As far as I remember from it, he was asking me out on a date."

"Dodged a bullet then, I guess."

"I tried to imply it was a bad idea by throwing our friends in but I don't think he got the picture. Why are boys so clueless?"

"Let's have this discussion when we're not in stripes, okay?"

* * *

 

Owen raced to the Fentons after school. He thought that at least if she hadn't ditched school or gotten sent home sick, it was something dangerous and she would need her parents to go save her. He rang the doorbell furiously until Mrs. Fenton answered the door.

"Oh, hi Owen." She answered in her normal gothic cheer. "Sorry, but Ophelia isn't home yet."

"That's what I wanted to tell you. I was talking to her at school today and she just disappeared right in front of me."

"Hate to break it to you Owen but she's half ghost. She can disappear and reappear whenever she wants to."

"Right in the middle of a conversation?"

"That depends, were you asking her out?” Owen laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Mrs. Fenton continued. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Dani since this morning either. You may have just been talking to Ophelia's duplicate which dissolved when she and Dani jumped into the Ghost Zone. She hasn't really perfected her duplications yet, she still needs to stay in the same dimension or they just dissolve."

"Could you at least check? Something's wrong, I can feel it."

Sam rolled her eyes jovially.

"Alright, I'll call up Detective Grey. If Ophelia was in any trouble, she'd be the first to hear about it."

Mrs. Fenton walked into the house and Owen followed her, assuming he was invited to come in. Sam reached to the phone and called Valarie.

"Hey Val, Ophelia and Dani haven't been home yet. Have you heard anything about them?

...

"What did you want to talk to me about them?

...

"What were they doing?

...

"That must have been a Plasmius Maximus. Did you hear anything from Walker about this?

...

"Then he's up to something. We have to go find them, Ophelia's never been shocked by a Maximus before. We don't know how she'll be affected knowing her genetic structure."

...

"You do that, I'll go get Danny."

She hung up and finally took notice of the very worried Owen in her living room.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"The GZPD attacked Dani and Ophelia and took them away. Walker must be behind it on one of his vigilante tirades. I need to go get my husband so we can go get her."

"Let me help, she's my...friend after all." He still didn't understand why it was so hard to call her a friend, as if it wasn't the right title.

"Owen, that's sweet but I think we've got it covered. Besides, you've never fought ghosts before, how would you know what to do?”

"If my history is correct, you weren't well experienced when you started out. You just acted on a whim with your clueless best friend and boyfriend/husband to be."

"Nice try, but you still can't go. When I acted on emotions it nearly killed people, mainly me. And I don't think that Ophelia will be happy if you blow yourself to bits with the Fenton Blaster."

Owen expression faltered when hearing that.

"She wouldn't?"

Sam smiled.

"Yeah, I think just about anyone would be upset if their parents let their friends kill themselves."

Owen looked disappointed, too disappointed to notice Mrs. Fenton smile and rest a hand on his shoulder.

* * *

 

Ophelia woke up four hours later. Her hair was snow white and her skin was glowing and scar-free. She can tell by the glow reflecting off her pillow that her eyes were glowing purple as well. The effects of the Plasmius Maximus had worn off.

"Dani?" she called.

"Yeah?" replied her sister from the top bunk.

"I think the Maximus has worn off on me. How about you?"

Dani jumped down. She still had on the prison uniform on but the polarization of hair and eye color was good enough an indicator.

"Does this answer your question?"

"Good enough."

Ophelia turned over and stared at the wall. A thought just came to her head.

"Dani, you're the smartest one here, help me figure this out.”

"Figure what out?”

"If a person was going to make a barricade for ghosts and humans, and have no source genetic material of their target prisoner, they would use EGM and DNA from separate sources to make said barrier. Am I right?"

"Right."

"And because of this, said barrier can block only humans and ghosts?"

"That's the plan."

"So in theory, if a prisoner had both EGM and DNA active at the same time, it would confuse the barrier and would make let the person pass through harmlessly-”

“Or explode like anti-matter coming into contact with matter.”

Ophelia shrugged.

 “Either way, the shield wouldn't work the way it's supposed to and the prisoners would escape-”

“As long as the explosion isn't intense enough to kill them or whatever happens to ghost past their existence."

Dani looked at her little sister with bright eyes and a darkened face.

“Whatever you're thinking of doing, don't.”

“Why not, we're doomed anyway. And haven't you told me you've done deadlier stuff with smaller odds of it working?”

“Yeah, I was an idiot to do them. And you're an even bigger idiot to hear my stories and think it's okay to do stuff even more dangerous.”

“I don't think it's okay, in fact I know it's a dumb idea, but I still think it's worth a shot to try.”

Ophelia touched the wall and focused on becoming intangible. Being half ghost and half human, she could pass through the walls on either plane without any thought. Now that both have to come into focus, it would be like trying to tune in to twenty sounds at once. The wall started to quiver against her hand like water. Sparks danced off the wall, spreading around the room as the wall rippled. Ophelia's hand finally slipped through the wall. She had just defied the laws of physics in both dimensions. Ophelia smiled.

Ophelia got up from her bed and walked up to the door. With a little less force, she slipped her whole body right through the door. Within minutes, the door opened with Ophelia twirling the key by the ring around her finger.

"Don’t tell me you're not a little impressed” Ophelia said.

"Mostly angry, but we can talk about it later," Dani said while running out the door, "now let's get out of here before anyone notices."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

The two girls were almost at the exit when Ophelia sensed a familiar presence. She stopped mid-sprint in front of a cell.

"What's wrong Phé?" Dani said when she noticed that she was the only one running.

"Wulf."

She came up to the door of the cell and a grey snout poked between the bars.

 _"Ophelia? Danielle?"_ said Wulf _"What brings you here?"_

 _"Dani's here because she helped you."_ Ophelia replied _"I'm here because I helped her. You're here because... I actually don't know why Walker throws you in here all the time."_

_"It's a long story."_

_"Need a hand getting out of here?"_

_"Will it get you in more trouble?"_

_"Walker put us under the death penalty, I don't think 'more trouble' is possible. Grab a hold of my hand."_

She stuck her arm through the door and she pulled the lycanthrope through the wall. He licked her gratefully.

_"Don't thank me yet, we have to get that collar off you."_

Her hands glowed purple and she grabbed the collar around Wulf's neck. With great force, she snapped the collar off of him. It shattered to pieces that she let fall to the floor. He gave Ophelia a bear hug and lifted her off the ground.

"Yeah, yeah," Dani intervened, "the ghost werewolf love fest is nice and all but we're still in danger. How about we get out of prison and then we hug?"

Dani then got blasted in the chest, followed by Ophelia and Wulf in the back.

"Attempting to break out of prison, that's against the rules."

Walker was flanked by twenty guards on each side. He was holding a smoking ecto-blaster walked over to Ophelia. He kicked her over and put his foot on her abdomen, pinning her to the ground.

"A genetic hybrid of ghost and human, that's against the rules too. Face it punks, the whole lot of you belonged in this prison from the day ya'll were born."

Dani knocked Walker off  ground. When he got up, he was face to face with her.

"According to what, your silly old book of rules you add in every five minutes? What right do you have to enforce them, anyway? You're only power is within these walls, that's why you make these rules and send out your little drones to fill your cells. Even then, you try to pick on the weaker ones and beat down the big guys before they figure out that they could beat you down. Danny was right about you, you are a coward. I actually feel sorry for the criminals my family have been sending your way. We thought you've changed but it's obvious we were wrong. You are nothing more than a coward and a bully."

He tried to swing a punch at her and it went right through her as if she was never there.

"Sorry dude, but as you said about us not having to follow your laws it includes the laws of physics. You are going to let us leave or I will make the whole house break the laws of physics as well. Well, excluding the east wing, that's where you guys keep the ghost we send over, right?"

Walker stared down at her for a while in pure rage. Finally, when realizing that she was serious, he stepped aside and let her walk. Ophelia and Wulf stared dumbfounded and followed. Dani stopped and turned to face Walker.

"And another thing: if you try to lay a hand on my little sister again, Ophelia and I will turn the Ghost Zone into an anarchy that you cannot possibly imagine."

She turned and walked towards the door. None of them notice when Walker aimed his blaster at Dani, nor the wining of the gun as it was charging up for a deadly shot. But they did pay attention when the gun was shot out of his hands with an ghost ray. When they noticed this they found Danny Phantom being the shooter, with Sam and Valarie backing him up.

"Same old Walker," Danny quipped, "Always shooting at people when their back is turned."

"These three are rule breakers that need to be punished." Walker argued.

"What are their crimes, existing? They are just as guilty for their crimes as I am... On second thought, I do have a criminal record here so I may not be the best example."

"Whatever your perspective of justice is in your world, I am in charge here. If someone breaks my rules, the laws of the Ghost Zone, they are punished."

"Yeah, well about that," Valarie said while handing Walker a document, "we plead our case to the Observants and they agree with us that you have been abusing your rights as Warden of the Ghost Zone Prison. You have been removed of your position as a law enforcer effective immediately."

Walker looked at the woman and the piece of paper in utter shock.

"But you _can't_ do this, I have been a warden of the Ghost Zone for nearly two hundred years. I have been enforcing the law all my life and afterlife, it's my very existence. What am I suppose to do now?"

"They're going to have a hearing with you about that. They're thinking of making you go from the bottom up until they think you have cleaned up your act and can return you to your position. It's all in the warrant."

"I can't believe this. All these years of work and I'm getting probation?"

"You're lucky your not going behind these bars." Danny interjected. "You have been inhumanely punishing your inmates for decades without anyone batting and eye. You once tried to put a shock collar on Sam to punish me. If you never saw this day coming than you're more narrow minded than I was generous enough to expect."

"If you follow me, Mr. Walker," Valarie continued, "We can go over to your office ad get your stuff."

As they left, no one noticed (or at least they pretended not to) that Dani and Ophelia shared a high five and stuck out their tongues at Walker's back.

* * *

 

Owen came over the minute Mrs. Fenton told him everyone was fine. Ophelia was on her roof staring at as much of the city her house could give her. She petted Cujo, who sat placidly on her lap. He sat right next to her, feet dangling over the edge like her.

"So, you wanna be a ghost hunter now?" she said.

Her mother must have told her, Owen thought. Why did she sound mad?

"Not really,” he replied, “I just heard you were in trouble and thought I should help out."

"How chivalrous of you." Even though she wasn’t looking at him, her gaze lost in the lights of the city, the sarcasm was laid on honey thick.

"You're not happy that I tried to help you?"

Her eyes flashed a violent green.

"No, I am not happy about it. I'm not happy about it for so many reasons. You could have gotten yourself killed Owen, and not everyone become ghosts. I learned that one the hard way."

"Your mom said nothing happened, there was barely a fight. It sounded like those lame vampire novels my mom read when she was a teenager."

"You thought there was, and you would have mindlessly gotten yourself right into the line of fire if there was one."

"You're not seriously going to be mad at me for something that didn't happen-"

" _Yet,_ it didn't happen yet. I'm talking sense into you before you do something really stupid. Whenever people try to help me, they get hurt. When I try to help them, they still get hurt. Whatever happens, you will die and it will be my fault for not scaring you away."

"So what? I'm suppose to let you get taken away by people you're too afraid to tell me about and have some ghost tell me that your body was found in the bottom of a ditch somewhere? You're my friend. I care about you lot. You may not be aware of this, but there are a lot of people who care whether or not they get to see you alive ever again."

"And of all those people, I care whether or not I get to see them alive again. And because of this, I make it a life goal of mine to keep them from my family's line of work. Just as much as I make it a life goal to make sure _I_ don't end up in my family's line of work. My parents respect that I don't want to save the world from ghosts, so please respect the fact that I don't want to catch you ghost hunting. Especially not for me."

"I just don't want you to fight alone. I want to be by your side and help you when you need it."

"Dude, I'm saying this once, don't ever make me have to say this again. I AM NOT A SUPERHERO AND YOU ARE NOT MY SIDEKICK! I am not fighting anything and I don't want people to think they need to help me. I don't want to see someone try to take you away to get to me and then waste you right in front of me knowing I can't do a thing to stop it."

Her voice was quiver, her bangs were covering her eyes so Owen couldn't see the tears in them. Cujo hoped off so she could hug her knees tightly to her chest.

"This isn't just about me, is it?" Owen asked warily.

"How very perceptive of you."

"Mind telling me what's wrong?"

She wiped he tears from her eyes with her sleeve in a way that looked like she was rubbing them instead. Cujo whimpered for his mistress’ sadness, pawing at her leg as an offer to make her feel better.

"Not the first thing, I won't tell you that. I'll tell you the most recent thing, though."

"What would that be?"

"When we went to the Observants with Auntie Val and Walker, they were talking about a new warden to take his place. They decided that none of the guards or Walker's second-in-command were clean enough so they needed someone new. They offered the job to Dani."

"What's wrong with that, wouldn't she be a great warden?"

"No, she would be a fair and just warden, the problem was she accepted the job offer and she's moving out tomorrow."

"And you don't like the fact that you're losing your sister ahead of schedule."

Ophelia sat there quiet for a while, trying to compose herself to speak while putting together in her head the best words to use.

"She was accepted to all the colleges she and my aunt Jazz applied her to, even the ivy leagues. She was going to study astrophysics and join the space program just like my dad. She was going to give up the whole life and have the steady and relatively normal life she never got. Now she's going to spend the rest of her life in the Ghost Zone running the prison and dealing with the felons my dad and my godmother send in every day."

"Why didn't she say 'no' then?"

"She has my dad's hero complex, she believes that she has to save everything and everyone even if it means sacrificing her own happiness to do it. She was supposed to get the life she wanted, outside of this crazy stuff."

Owen looked at her hard with the little light he got from the city and the night sky. She was holding back tears and a lot of pain, he could tell.

"There's another reason, isn't there?"

She didn't answer, she just stared straight forward.

"She was your template. You were going to follow her example when you got older to find a life that would make you happy. And to you, a happy life is one where no one depends on you to save the day or have anything to do with ghosts outside the friends you've already made in the Ghost Zone. You're not only upset for her, you're upset because you've lost hope in being anything more than the Phantom ghosthunter that everyone expects you to be."

She still didn't respond.

"You don't need to rely on your sister's life as a guideline for your own. You are Ophelia Fenton, a fourteen-year-old girl who can master a skill if someone draws it to your attention. You are a genius, a star athlete, and you are the best friend a guy could have. You can do all that without having to use your name or your ghost powers. If you can do all that, then there should be no problem with your future. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

He got up and was about to head out the door leading inside the house when he stopped himself.

"Hey Phé?"

"Yes Owen?"

"You never gave me your answer."

"Answer to what?"

"That place downtown I was talking about, would you like to go with me? Not as a date, off course. Just two friends hanging out."

Ophelia smiled nervously. She managed to keep herself visible, but she was as transparent as cellophane.

"I think I'd rather go for a quiet weekend at home for once. Sorry, we can hang out with the rest of the guys another time."

She didn't need insight to see his disappointment, it was written all over his face.

"Yeah sure, see you tomorrow."

Owen left with Ophelia's eyes on him. She still wasn't sure how she felt about him just yet, or how the rest of her life is going to go, or how is she going to get through the mess she's been in for more or less ten years.

Cujo pawed at her legs until she finally let him hop onto her lap. She petted his head in a meditated state.

"Nothing is ever easy, is it boy?"

Cujo only let out a little whine in response. Ophelia continued to pet him as she watched the sunset and the twilight fade.

 


	10. Danse Macabre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophelia goes to a Halloween party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters are going to get longer from here on.

Every year around Halloween, a great amount of the Ghost Zone's population would celebrate one way or another. Most would go to the Human Plane to join in the festivities with the living. Others would celebrate in their own dimension, following the traditions of their time period. The rest would ignore it and treat the day as October 31st, not as Halloween. This year, Trix was going to the annual masquerade the ghosts would hold in the Human Plane, aptly named the Danse Macabre. The one thing she hated about being a magician's assistant for so many years was that she never got the day off the celebrate Halloween. It was a day for the dead, she was dead, it was practically a religious holiday for her. Now that she quit that job, she has to catch up with the Ghost Zone, including the Danse Macabre.

There was a knock on her door. She flew over to answer it. It was Ophelia, she was wearing one of her Goth outfit's with a witch's hat and holding a jack-o-lantern.

"Happy Halloween, Trix." she said as she gave her the jack-o-lantern.

"Hello Ophelia, and how are you on this wonderful holiday?"

"I love Halloween, it's the coolest days of the year. You get to dress up in costumes, adults give you candy just for knocking on their door, and you get to watch scary movies all month long without people judging you. Well, I’m quoting my mom on that last one."

"What are your plans this year?" Trix asked, placing the jack-o-lantern on a table. She snapped her fingers and the inside glowed multiple colors by a magical flame.

"My human friends and I are stuck with decorating this haunted house the school does every year."

"Didn't you sign up for it?"

"Sort of, it's a 'get out of detention by doing the teacher a favor' gig."

"Detention, what did you do?"

**Earlier that day...**

Along the halls, Coach Baxter was having students decorate the hall for Halloween, at least the athletes he had control over.

"Cujo! Cujo come back here!"

As the students were painting and posting up signs for the annual haunted house, Cujo scurried his way down the halls destroying it with his puppy mischief. The dog’s owner, along with her friends, were chasing after him, only to cause more destruction. Ophelia attempted to make a grab at him, only for him to slip through her fingers and for her to go crashing into a table of supplies. A can of paint was sent flying and fell on Coach Baxter, coated him in green. The little dog walked up and sat in front of him, wagging his little tail and innocently panting.

"Fenton!" He shouted.

Ophelia phased herself out of the pile of poster paper and paint supplies to find a very angry, very purple gym teacher staring down at her. She looked at him in wide-eyed terror before her nerves made her disappear.

**Now...**

"Nothing, nothing at all." said Ophelia.

"Well, it's a shame you have to do the haunted house thing. I was going to invite you to the Danse Macabre, but since you're busy..."

"Danse Macabre? Is that a party?"

"Only _the_ party of the year. All the ghosts return to the living world and have a costume ball in all these old abandoned places, it's just a riot."

"A riot that I cannot attend, but you have a good time though. What are you going as?"

"Traditionally, you attend in the evening attire of your lifetime, I have done enough of those. I'm thinking of going as a geisha girl."

"Planning on wearing a wig?" Ophelia said while eying Trix's fiery red bob cut.

"You know it. What are you planning on going as?"

"I'm not sure yet, Baxter might be having me be acting a part in the haunted house, so I might have a costume picked out for me."

"What were you planning to dress up as originally?"

The two white rings formed around Ophelia's center and climbed up and down her body. When they disappeared, she was wearing an airy little dress with a whimsy floral pattern. She had flowers of cool colors in her hair and around her dress. A pair of purple and green butterfly wings sprouted out of her back and fluttered behind her.

"Get it?" said Ophelia with a smile.

"Oh, that's adorable, but what am I suppose to get?"

"I'm a fairy, also known as a fae. You know, fae, Phé?"

"Oh, now I get it. That's even more adorable."

"Adorable, but not scary. They'll probably dress me up as some sort of bleeding corpse and have me walk through the walls and disappear at the second glance. You know, the typical ghost stereotypes. This will be so painful." She collapsed onto the sofa to add dramatic affect. A flock of startled doves flew out of the couch cushions and disappeared into odd directions around the house.

"Sorry about that, kiddo. Well, if you can get out of it early, here's the invitation. It has the address for this part of the Danse."

Ophelia looked at the invitation Trix had given her. It was dark purple with the texture of aged parchment. The design of the stationary reminded her of those old-fashioned, seventeenth-century tombstones with a winged skull on top. At first the card appeared to be blank, but then the letters appeared as if written by an invisible pen. In neat, curvy letters, the invitation spelled out the date, time and location of the “Danse Macabre: Amity Park Chapter”.

Ophelia looked at it curiously.

"You don't have it in one place?"

"Ophelia, it's nearly every ghost in existence. That's just about a third of every human who every walked the Earth. We can barely keep it in the same planet let alone the same place."

"True. I'll see what I can do. I might get out on good behavior. Or I can tell my dad and sneak out during his hissy fit with out least favorite teacher, but that might cause more trouble for me than I'm trying to avoid."

* * *

 

In the very depths of the Ghost Zone, where all was left alone and forgotten, there was a creature. This creature wasn't a ghost like all the other inhabitants, nor was it human. If it was either of the two, it had forgotten quite a long time ago. It emerged from the depths in the guise of a wolf, leaping at incredible lengths from rock to rock. It reached the part of the Ghost Zone in sync with Amity Park and stopped. It smelled something in the air, something strange, something new, something irresistible. It followed the scent until it reached a door. It saw a girl come out of the door. She had snow white hair and eyes of sparkling amethyst. Her skin was slightly tanned with bright pink cheeks. Her whole body was a ghostly glow. It wondered how a ghost would have blood in her cheeks, or how it would smell like blood and ectoplasm at the same time.

Another girl came out. This one was one hundred percent ghost. She gave the snow haired girl a hug and a wave goodbye before closing the door. The snow haired girl opened a portal of purple energy and walked right into it, the portal disappeared as soon as she did. It looked on curiously as it took its original human (or humanoid) shape. It was dressed in Victorian fashion, indicating the last time it was on Earth. He too had pale skin, but unlike the girl he was inhumanly pale. There was no sign of blood underneath his skin, although there was something in his veins similar to blood. He approached the door the girl came out of and knocked on it. The ghost opened it, now dressed in a Japanese kimono gown. She looked the creature over. He could sense her instincts warning her against him.

"Can I help you?" She said in a hasty manner.

"Yes, hello." He said in a charming tone, "I noticed that you were talking to another girl just now and I wanted to know who she is."

"Who are you?" She said defensively.

"Not important, I want to know who that girl was."

"Why?"

He smirked, nearly smiled but he knew better to show his teeth.

"I just want to get to know the girl."

"Sorry, but I'm kind of busy." She tried to close the door but he stuck his foot to jam it. He put his hand on the door and pushed it aside, the ghost was backing away.

"You'll have to make time for me, I'm afraid. I'm quite famished."

"There's a diner not too far away. I don't really have anything here to eat."

He smiled, showing his canines to be unusually sharp.

"I think it's quite interesting how ghosts would partake in human food when they have no need for it. Even in my day, you shades would eat for the sake of familiarity. I don't really care for it, such a nasty habit. It leaves an unpleasant taste in the ectoplasm."

She inferred where this was going and shot him with a ghost ray. It seemed to have only temporarily blinded him, when he regained his sight she was gone.

She flew as fast as far as she could, the rooms and hallways slid and opened around her to conceal her. When she thought it was safe, she stopped and hid behind a corner. She took out the phone her friend had given her and started dialing the GZPD. When she was about to press the "call" button, he grabbed her wrist. He was smiling heinously through his sharp teeth, like a beast would do when it caught its prey.

"Look at what that did you," he said in a patronizing tone, "now you’re tired and I've worked up an appetite."

She tried to turn intangible to slip her arm through, but it did no use.

"Oh, come now. Do you actually believe that I would have fed on your kind all these centuries if they were able to slip right through my fingers."

"What are you?"

"I think we both know the answer to that."

All around the halls and even through the front door, the sound a screaming was heard until it slowly died down.

* * *

 

They all met at the house early, earlier than Coach Baxter. Unfortunately, he had the keys to the place so they had to wait outside for him. Ophelia offered to phase them all through to get a head start, but they voted against it in fear of Baxter adding a phasing and entering charge as well as detention. The girls and Wal immediately started talking amongst themselves, the subjects switching around often. Owen was scribbling is his sketchbook and Mick was sitting next to him.

"What are you drawing, Owen?" he asked to break the awkward silence.

"Ophelia photographed Pariah's Keep for me last week. I'm just getting to the throne room."

"Isn't that the place where the Ghost King lives?"

"More like trapped," he gave Mick a picture of the throne room, "see that box thing? That's the Sarcophagus of Eternal Sleep. Mr. Phantom put him in there when he was a kid. As the news reports go about the invasion that happened here, it was no small feat. It wasn't actually the first time the Ghost King was put in there, but it was still remarkable nonetheless."

"Yeah, I've heard about that. There are a lot of graphic novels based on that incident. Isn't this place closed off to the public?"

"She said she went with her dad on a routine check up to see if everything is where it's suppose to be. She may not like the super hero saving the world thing, but she does love the adventure/exploring thing that runs in her family. That's one of many reasons why I love that girl."

Owen widened his eyes when he realized what he just said.

"Love?" Mick asked surprised.

"You know, like a best friend." He said a little scatter brained, "Like the way I love you and Wal."

Mick smirked.

"I love you too man." he joked. "Maybe we should go out on a date too."

Owen blushed when he heard that.

"It wasn't a real date, we just hadn't seen each other in a while and I thought that she needed to go somewhere to unwind."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say."

"Besides, she said no." He grumbled into his sketchbook.

Owen looked up from his work and looked over to Ophelia. Wal had just told a joke and Ophelia was laughing at it, her eyes glittering like emeralds in the sun. He didn't notice that he was staring at her until she looked over to him and waved back awkwardly. He then blushed and waved back.

"Okay kids," Baxter said when he finally met them at the gate. "You will go into pairs and work in one room each. I want the best rooms out of the eight of you, meaning I want to be absolutely horrified when I step into each one. You can only leave when I have seen the room and deem it scary. Any questions?"

Wal raised is hand.

"Yes, Mr. Ramìrez?"

"You said the eight of us were working on the house."

"Yes, and?"

"I count seven."

"Right, I'd like to introduce you to a new student to Casper High, Richard Waltz."

He motioned to a boy who apparently had stood behind him the whole time. He had strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes. He was dressed like he came out of a Dickens novel.

Ophelia covered her mouth.

"You can decide amongst yourselves who gets stuck with the new kid. I'll leave you kids to whatever you plan on doing. I'll be back in an hour. Here are the keys, don't destroy the house (looking at you, Fenton). Oh, and before I forget."

He pulled out and ecto-inhibitor and slapped it on Ophelia's wrist. He punched in a code and it blinked to life.

"Hey!"

"I don't want any of the other teachers calling me a cheat for recruiting the only hlaf-ghost student in school since her father. You will get your powers back once I see your room, and it’s horrifying. I just hope for your sake you take off of your mom's side."

He walked away laughing at his own joke, or at least the comment that he counted as a joke. Ophelia frowned at the cuff on her wrist. She stared on angrily, her eyes were smoldered embers due to the inhibitor.

"So," Em said to lighten the mood, "I think we should have a connected theme to all the rooms. What do you think that should be?"

"Frankenstein's Castle!" said Mick.

"Murder house massacre." said Darcy.

"Pariah's Keep." said Owen.

"How about Dracula's castle?" asked Richard.

Everyone stared at him before they started laughing at him. Richard just blinked in confusion.

"What is wrong with my idea?"

Abi appointed herself as the person to crush his dreams to explain it.

"Look, Rich, the key to a scary haunted house is of something that could actually happen. We could do Frankenstein's Castle because their have been occasions where life was created by a mad scientist. Massacres have happened throughout history, and we all know about Pariah's keep. But seriously, vampires, there's no such thing."

"We believed the same thing about ghosts in only a few short decades ago."

"But that's because we had proof. We had science."

"You had two people whole poked a hole in the wall between the two realities."

"And ever since then, we have explored every possible outcome of any other mythological creature being real. Now we have scientific experiments and explorations to disprove the existence of vampires."

"Vampires _are_ real. They feed off the very essence of humans and ghosts alike. They are ruthless, sociopathic, sadistic, bloodthirsty creatures of nightmares. I have stories told of them passed down in my family for years."

"That's all they are, stories. If they are as bloodthirsty as you say, why haven't we seen them kill anyone yet."

"Who said they wanted you to know they've killed anyone?"

"Okay," Ophelia said, playing peacemaker, "How about this, we make the theme 'the worst nightmares in history'. That way we can have all the rooms involve some scary aspect whether they're real or not."

They all looked at each other and shrugged in agreement.

"Now that's dealt with," said Abi, "what about pairs? Who wants to be with Van Helsing." She motioned towards Richard when she said that.

All except for Ophelia touched their noses and shouted "Not it!"

"Okay, now that's that settled, I get Mick and we do Frankenstein's castle, Owen and Darcy do Pariah's Keep, and Em and Wal do the massacre room. Let's move out."

They started to file into the house, Ophelia being the last to enter. A chill rolled down her spine and turned to look out of the gate. She didn't know why, but she felt like she was being watched.

* * *

 

"Trix?"

Kitty was knocking on Trix's door. She and Johnny were dressed up like Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. The three of them decided to go together to the Danse Macabre. Right now, they were running extremely late.

"Trix, get your non-corporeal butt out here!"

The door flew open at the second knock, inviting them inside. Kitty walked in, Johnny following shortly after. Something was wrong, the hallways were cold and empty. The windows that would usually shine a golden light was leaking a gloomy grey.

"Kudos on decorating the rooms, Trix, it's very creepy." Johnny shouted down the hallway, there was no answer.

"Trix?"

They walked down the hallways looking for her. As they did so they started seeing green footprints on the floor. They were bigger and bigger until they were splattered puddles around a ghostly form.

"Trix!" Kitty said as she ran to the body. Trix was covered in ectoplasm, stemming from a dripping bite mark in her neck (now just a deep scar). She was healing, but very slowly.

"Johnny, call for help!"

"Who do we call, I've never seen this before."

"I don't know, the Observants? Just get help!"

He was dialing up the phone when Trix was groaning into consciousness.

"Trix! Trix, what happened to you?"

"Got…got to find Ophelia... She's in trouble."

"Ophelia's fine, what happened to you?"

"He's... he's after Ophelia...We need to warn her."

"About what? Who’s after her?"

"The vampire."

* * *

 

Ophelia was hanging up a tapestry while Richard was dressing the coffin.

"So," said Ophelia, "How old are you?"

"Fourteen, I'm in your class after all."

"No, I mean how long have you been dead?”

Richard's eyes widened.

"What gave it away?"

"My ghost sense. Don't worry, I'm sure no one else will figure it out. I'm guessing you're not a changeling."

"No, I don't like the institution. I already went through the foster home system when I was alive, why would I want to go through it again?”

"I understand, we had a changeling here before. Her parents died but she was hiding from the agency so she could grow up. They found out and took her away."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah, it was kind of my fault too."

"It probably wasn't, the agency is incredibly slow with these processes. They may have already known but was backlogged with other cases."

Ophelia smiled at the thought. They continued decorating the room until they were completely finished. The room looked pretty creepy. It was barely lit by artificial candle flames and a fake fire. There was a coffin dead center of the room, they had set it up so that one of the student actors Baxter would bring over would be the vampire and they would stroll around the room and startle whoever came in. Most of the room was covered in velvet and antiques.

"Ophelia."

"Yes, Richard?"

"Do you believe in vampires?"

"Being a human-ghost genetic anomaly kind of leaves you open minded. I know that there's a pretty good chance of them being real, but I haven't seen any real proof."

"What do you know about them?"

"What I get from my mom's books I suppose."

"And that would be?"

"They are once human, but were turned into a vampire by drinking another vampire's blood. They drink the blood of the living, they can't use their powers in sunlight, they have no reflection, and they go to a place without and invitation."

"Pretty good knowledge, do you know how to destroy them?"

"Stake through the heart?"

“Actually, yes. There are some stories about shoving garlic down the throat, but I wouldn't trust it. Decapitation works just as well, but the head has to be nowhere near the body when disposed and you can't come in contact with the blood."

"Why's that?"

"It won't kill, nor would it turn you into a vampire, but it will make you really sick."

"That thing you said that they fed off of humans and ghosts alike, is that true?"

Richard nodded.

"Human blood is like wine to them, they like the taste of life and the feel of it fading away with every sip."

"Charming." she said, suppressing her gag reflexes.

"Ectoplasm is more filling, and it replenishes itself. It also packs a charge since it's pure energy."

"So to them, we're an endless coffee bar."

Richard nodded again.

"Even more charming. Sounds like you know your stuff, how?"

Richard’s face darkened.

"I would rather not go into that."

"Okay fine, I'll ask something else. Why don't we hear about them? We haven't heard about legit vampires since Stoker and then there was that book saga back when my parents were kids. You'd think since they're this dangerous we'd know about them just as much as ghosts."

"A while back, there were a lot. We ignored it in order to feel safe. Then it got too much and the humans took the offensive. A majority of the vampire population was wiped out, the rest went into hiding in the deepest fathoms of the Ghost Zone where things go to be forgotten. They hide there because of the easier access to a food supply, and no one would ever react if they fed."

"Looks like you got the raw end of the stick."

"You can say that, yes."

Ophelia's phone went off and she looked at it to read a text. She replied to it before putting it away.

"Who was that?" Richard asked.

"Trix, one of my ghost friends. She wanted to know when I was coming to the Danse Macabre."

"You're going?"

"This would be my first one, nobody ever told me of it before."

"You will enjoy it, it is what we ghosts look forward to next to Christ-"

Ophelia blasted a hole in the wall next to Richard. He jumped back in surprise.

"What the Devil was that!"

Ophelia looked at her glowing hand and quickly tucked it behind her hand. She faded in embarrassment.

"Sorry, its a reflex of mine. Just please, don't mention that word to me."

"What, Christmas? What's wrong with Christmas?"

Ophelia's body flickered a glowing green, like she was flinching at the mention of the very word.

"My dad and I are not big fans of the holiday. We don't necessarily have the best memories associated with the day. We were more than happy to get on board with the Hanuka thing with my mom just to avoid the 25th."

"Sorry about that. Anyway, I hope Mr. Baxter let's us go. I want to get over there too, I never missed one in my afterlife."

* * *

 

He was able to pick up her scent pretty easily. He tracked her down to a house under the address of 917 Maple Street. She was with six other human teens, a ghost

and a human adult. It took him a while to figure which one was her as she changed her appearance, her snow white hair was black as ink, her amethyst eyes were sparkling emeralds in the sun, and the olive tone in her skin was gone giving her the appearance of a porcelain doll. The adult left while the teens were organizing themselves about decorating the house. He was about to tune it out until he heard the ghost and one of the human girls argue about vampires.

"Now we have scientific experiments and explorations to disprove the existence of vampires." he heard the human girl say.

"Vampires are real." said the ghost "They feed off the very essence of humans and ghosts alike. They are ruthless, sociopathic, sadistic, bloodthirsty creatures of nightmares. I have stories told of them passed down in my family for years."

He smiled. 'Bloodthirsty creatures of nightmares' was taken as a compliment. The fight was soon settle and the teens split themselves into pairs. She went with the ghost, while the humans mingled with themselves. They entered the house and locked the gate behind them, before heading up to the house. She stayed behind. He knew she had sensed him somehow. She stared out for a while to try to find him, and then retreated into the house. There was no need to lock the gate, he couldn't get in anyway. He could do nothing else but wait for her to come out. He learned how to wait in the past five centuries of his existence, all the predators wait for their prey.

The time trickled as the sun came down. He could see the teens decorate the rooms through the windows. They had finished by the time the adult from earlier came over with more human children. The ghost opened the gate for them and let them in. They filed into the house and he saw the teens instructing each other what to do in each room. Eventually, the original set of teens ran out of the house cheering to be free for the evening. The humans left to do whatever humans did for Halloween nowadays, the girl and the ghost stayed by the gate.

"You want to go together?" He heard the girl offer.

"Sure," said the ghost "do you need to change?"

Two white rings of light appeared at her waist and they climbed up and down until they disappeared at her feet and at the top of her head. She was transformed into a fairy, with green and purple butterfly wings and lots of flowers. Her hair once again was snow white and her eyes were glowing amethyst.

"I guess that answers my question." said the ghost.

"Aren't you wearing something?"

"I am, these are the clothes during the time I died. That's the tradition of Danse Macabre, after all. I'm surprised you didn't notice."

She shrugged.

"I thought you were just into steam punk, though the lack of gears do make more sense now."

"So, should we fly over there?"

"Actually, I want to walk over there. The cemetery is only a few blocks and it's a nice night."

The ghost blinked.

"I guess it's been a while since I was human."

"Luckily we aren't going to a human convention."

"They have those now?"

She laughed, he thought they were like the chiming of a bell. He thought of the taste of taking away that laughter and licked his lips.

They walked a few blocks before they decided to cut through the park. Giving him a chance to catch his prey.

* * *

They were halfway into the park when Ophelia's phone went off. She pulled it out to see what it was. It was a text from Trix.

_Where are you right now?_

_On way to cemetery._ she replied _._

_Where exactly?_

_In the park._

_So am I, meet me by the fountain so we can walk over together._

_Okay, I'm with someone._

There was a moment before Trix replied.

_I need to talk to you alone, it's very important._

Ophelia looked at her phone in bewilderment.

"That's my friend Trix,” she explained to Richard, “She says she's in the park with us. She wants to talk to me alone."

"I'll wait here."

"Not here, too far away. This feels weird, I want you close by if it isn't her. I've had it happen before."

He shrugged.

Ophelia walked over to the fountain. Her ghostly glow reflected off the running water once she sat down by it. She waited, looking up to at the sky. There were no stars tonight, and the moon was only a sliver. The sky was dark with clouds, concealing the moon and stars. In fact, the whole park was thick with an eerie fog. _Happy Halloween,_ she thought, _Mother Nature threw in a creepy London fog._

She then sensed Trix, though not exactly as she normally sensed her. It felt like the difference between smelling a field of violets and smelling a bouquet, like Trix's essence was plucked from its roots. It also felt like the violets were used to cover up an odor.

In the guise of the woods and shadows, Ophelia could see dog-like yellow eyes staring at her hungrily. The eyes didn't scare her, what did scare her was that the eyes stood right where she sensed Trix.

_That is not Trix._

She turned herself invisible and started running off to where Richard was. Before she got out of the clearing, the wolf attached to the hungry eyes pounced at her and knocked her down. She turned intangible but the wolf still clung to her, clawing at her arms and shoulders. She continued to kick and scream until she finally kicked the wolf away from her. She got up and backed away from the wolf, who was now licking the blood off of his paws. It looked disappointed once its paws were clean and licked its lips staring at the bloody, snow haired fairy. It was about to pounce again when she shot a ghost ray at it, knocking it into a tree, which fell down on it from the force. The wolf whimpered from the pain. It shook it off like it would water from its coat and growled at her.

At this point, Richard stepped in by Ophelia's side hands glowing threateningly. The wolf growled some more in defeat before disappearing into the mist. Ophelia could have sworn it had a human silhouette in the mist before it completely vanished.

"Are you okay, Ophelia?" asked Richard with concern.

"Hm," started Ophelia, "I was just attacked by a supernatural wolf, covered in my own blood, and my costume is completely ruined. OF COURSE I'M NOT OKAY!"

"It doesn't look too bad, we just need to wipe off this blood-" He reached towards Ophelia shoulder with a handkerchief.

"Wait, don't-"

Before she could stop him, he touched her shoulder and went through the most excruciating pain he ever experienced in his afterlife. He didn't let go until he collapsed onto the ground.

"Sorry, I have a condition. There are blood blossoms mixed into my blood. Hazardous to ghost, shocks them on contact. But I guess you already know that."

"Blood Blossoms? Shouldn't you be, I don't know, dead?"

"My human half and its immune system is keeping me alive, but it makes it worse when I come in contact with blood blossoms outside of my system. Which reminds me, I need to burn this dress before they start to bloom."

She transformed into Louis XIV style ballgown with a Venetian masque and her hair up in a Marie Antionette up do. The fairy dress, which was now nothing more than a bloody mass of rags, laid folded in her arms. She dropped the dress onto the concrete walkway and shot it with a ghost ray, setting the dress on fire.

"How does one get blood blossoms mixed into their blood?"

Ophelia stared quietly at the fire for a while, a pained expression beneath her mask.

"That question has the same answer to the reason why I don't care for December 25th. They’re all bad memories that I don't want to talk about."

He nodded in acknowledgement.

"It must have hurt though."

"It was the worse pain you could ever imagine. It put me in a coma for three straight months. It still hurt when I woke up, though. All pins and needles like when a person's leg falls asleep. But it was bearable at least, and it didn't last long. It went away when I was twelve."

She continued to stare at the fire until it died down, her once beautiful dress was now just a pile of ashes on a charred concrete surface.

"Come on,” said Richard, “We better get going if we want to make it to that party."

They started walking out of the park, more wary than before about what was in the mist.

"Richard."

"Yes?"

"I've also found a few more facts about vampires: they are unaffected by intangibility and they cloak their psyches with the very essence of their victims."

“Psyches?”

Ophelia stared out, wide eyes flashing through her mask.

“Did I say that? What I meant to say was…I don’t know, I really thought I was talking to my friend.”

She pulled out her phone while she was talking. She dialed a number and put it to her ear.

"Who are you calling?" Richard asked.

"My friend Kitty, I need her to drop by Trix's. We need to meet her over there, something happened. Something really, really bad happened."

* * *

 

They were in a makeshift hospital in Trix's realm. A few Observants were there who were old enough to know what they were dealing with. They had Trix lie down on her bed in a clean set of nightclothes. A ghost's equivalent of an IV drip was attached to one of her arms while a small bag of raw ectoplasm dripped into another. The ectoplasm wasn't needed, as by the time the Observants had finally arrived Trix had regained a significant amount of ectoplasm. But, as they had explained, it was protocol for vampire attacks, and the Observants always follow protocol.

Kitty was in Johnny’s consoling arms in the parlor when her cell phone rang. She tried to pull herself together once she saw Ophelia's name on the caller ID.

"Phé?" she answered repressing a sob.

"It got Trix, didn't it?" Ophelia spoke in that serious tone. Only very few people have heard that tone enough to recognize it and know it meant that something bad had happened, Kitty was on of them.

"Yeah, the Observants say she'll be fine. She's strong enough to sustain consciousness, but she still can't get up on her own. I'm guessing it attacked you, too."

"Yeah, it clawed me and got blood all over my dress. I had to burn it on the spot. The dress, I mran. The cuts are pretty deep, but they've already healed. I'm coming over now."

"See you in five seconds then, I guess." She hung up the phone. Seconds later, Ophelia walked in through the door with another ghost shyly following her.

"Who's this?" Kitty asked pointing to the boy ghost.

"This is Richard, he was with me when it attacked. He's cool."

He waved nervously Johnny and Kitty.

"I want to see her." Ophelia said flatly.

"She's in pretty bad shape, Phé," replied Johnny, "I don't think you want to see."

Ophelia's eye blazed a violent shade of purple.

"I just got clawed by a bloodsucking beast and almost got every drop of blood drained out of me, that same bloodsucking beast is probably the one that attacked her. Let me see her, now!"

Johnny knew better to argue with Ophelia in this state and backed away. Kitty led Ophelia up the stairs leading to the room Trix was recovering in. When Trix saw Ophelia enter, she lit up as if she got her energy back.

"Ophelia, thank goodness you're alright!"

"You shouldn't worry about me, Trix, and worry more about yourself. Look at you, what in the Ghost Zone did this to you?"

Trix looked away, troubled by her experience.

"He must have seen you leave my realm, he asked me who you were. I knew immediately that he was no good and I didn't tell him anything. He bore his teeth at me and I knew immediately I was in trouble. I tried to run away, but he found me and... the next thing I remember was waking up to Kitty's screaming. I was so worried about you, I knew he would drain you dry as soon as he found you."

"Why aren't you worried about yourself? You are the first recorded vampire attack in centuries."

"I'm dead and he attacked me in the Ghost Zone. All he could do was severely weaken me for a while. You are the most of my concerns, for all I know you can die. He plans to you drain you of all the blood and ectoplasm you have in your body. I doubt you would recover from that."

"She couldn't," Kitty interjected, "her blood is ectoplasm and her ectoplasm is blood. If he drained her she would have nothing to replenish with. She would die for sure if he gave her that grace."

Ophelia glared at Kitty.

"What, I was your babysitter remember? Your parents had to tell me a few things so I wouldn't kill you or something, like what that monster's planning on doing to you right now. "

"See my point?" Trix said.

"I'm fine,” Ophelia griped, “he did attack me as a wolf but as you can see I handled him just fine."

"Oh really,” said Kitty with the look of authority she had perfected in her babysitting days, “I can see the claw marks on your shoulders."

"You can also see that they're healing just fine."

"You should go home, Ophelia. Make sure nobody answers the door without your say. Tonight isn't a good night to be out."

"But I want to go to the Danse Macabre, there will be ghosts everywhere. If anything happens there will be two hundred witnesses to pull me out."

"She's right Phé," Trix interjected. "The vampire will be expecting you to go there. The event is outside so he won't need an invitation."

Ophelia turned to Kitty.

"I bet you and Johnny are still going."

"The thing isn't after my ectoplasm."

"You'd be there to protect me, and so will Richard."

Kitty crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow with a clever smile.

"Do you seriously want to put your friends in danger to protect you?"

Ophelia expression changed. She looked away as she clutched her arm tightly.

"That is just low."

"Low, but it works every time."

Trix just looked on at the two girls, knowing that she was missing something very important. Ophelia crossed her arms and gave a pout that would give Cujo a run for his money. She looked upset and disappointed, it was a sight that could bring a tear to a ghost's eye. Kitty caved.

"Okay, how about this? Johny and I have been to enough of these to miss one year. How about we stay at home with you and watch old horror movies. I know you like to poke fun at the vaudeville ghosts."

Ophelia smiled and gave her a big hug.

"You're one of my best friends in the entire Ghost Zone. Can my other best friend come over and watch it with us?" She half asked the Observants and half asked Trix.

Trix shrugged, "Sure." The Observants agreed as long as she lies down while she's there.

"Hey Johnny!" Kitty shouted to her boyfriend downstairs. "Nix the Danse, we're going to the Fenton's house."

"Aww, can't we just let her die?"

"I heard that, 13!" Ophelia shouted back.

* * *

 

He found her again, this time at a house he assumed was hers. He could see through the window she was accompanied by three other ghosts, one of them was the girl he met before (he was surprised by how sweet she had tasted, he wanted to go back for seconds). The two girls were dressed in nightclothes, the two ghosts that were obviously a couple were dressed in costumes. They were in the living room watching a large television. He could see that on his victim's lap was a little green ghost dog, he was surprised that the dog hadn't detected him yet.

He needed to get to the girl, he had to taste her blood again. It was a purely intoxicating experience. The pure energy mixed in with that luscious taste, it was the best thing he ever tasted in his existence. It made his mouth water simply thinking about it.

He had to find a way to get into the house, or lure the girl out, but how was he supposed to do that? She seemed to sense him, even when he masked himself with her friend's essence, so he couldn't trick her to let him in. The only ghosts he knew she cared for were inside the house and probably knew about him already, so using them as bait wouldn't work either. Still, he did see her with human friends. He could smell them here on the street. He hadn't seen her near them after his encounter, and even then he doubted they would believe her. His favorite thing about humans, other than their blood, was their extreme sense of denial. They simply refuse to believe in things they can't fully understand or can't be killed easily. How precious.

He stalked down the street in the form of a fog trying to find his bait. He found the houses easily, but none of the humans he was looking for were at their homes. This was better for him, it meant that they were somewhere out on the streets defenseless and alone. He caught a scent and followed it out of Willow Street.

* * *

 

Owen hated trick or treating, even when he was a kid. The thought of walking along town in a cold, uncomfortable costume just did not seem appealing. Not even the bribery of free candy changed his mood, especially since his parents would make him stay in the infamous "red zone" neighborhoods where the houses would give out healthy food and coins. The only reason he even went trick or treating would be to go with his friends, especially since they would sneak him out to the Elysium of candy. But now that none of them do trick or treating anymore, he thought he was in the clear. He was wrong.

Now he had to chaperone his kid sister and her little friends around the neighborhoods. What was even worse was that some of these kids had paranoid parents who would sew tracking devices into their costumes. Not only was he stuck brat wrangling around the neighborhood without the prize of candy, he had to stay within the limits of the red zone without any chance of escaping to Candy Elysium. Lucky for him, he wasn't the only one who had a kid sibling.

"Luci, stop screaming. Thank the nice man for the granola bar so we can leave."

 Sadly, the stork had also dropped by Em's house seven years ago, cursing her with the candyless trick or treating chore.

"Thank you mister Abominable Snowman." said the children in unison. One of them chirped, “I like your costume.”

"I'm not wearing a costume. Fall of the House of Usher!"

They retreated from that house and moved on to the next one.

"You know Em, you're with the drama club. You could've stayed at the haunted house and say it's a school thing."

"Yeah, but I feel bad thinking of you alone with the little monsters."

"I'm not a monster, I'm a mermaid princess!"

"That you are, Luci, and an annoying one at that - Anyway, Owen, I grew up with you and I know you hate this stuff. It would be cruel to leave you alone."

"Thanks. What do you think Ophelia does for Halloween?"

Em rolled her eyes and tried to repress her laughter. Owen raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Why does everyone give me that look when I talk about Ophelia?"

"No reason."

"No, I want to know. Lately, everyone has been laughing every time I mention her. Even Ophelia gives me a funny look. Is there something people aren't telling me?"

Em bit her lip as her eyes darted side to side. It was then that she started to notice the creepy guy watching them.

"Hey, how long has that guy been watching us?"

"Don't change the subject Em. Answer my question."

"I will, after we lose that guy. He's giving me the creeps."

They walked a few blocks trying to shake the man loose. He didn't necessarily follow them, they never actually saw him advance a step towards them. He just seemed to be there whenever they turned a corner, half hidden in the eerie mist. After a few blocks without stopping by the house they finally stopped.

"That's it," Em said aggressively, "Owen, stay with the kids. I'm going to give this guy a piece of my mind."

She was stomping over there, rolling up her sleeves in a threatening manner, when Owen pulled her back by the shoulder.

"Wait up Em, you don't know if the guy is dangerous. Maybe I should go over there."

"Dude, no offense, but you are a terrible fighter. I’ve almost got my black belt, I think I can handle myself."

"Hey, I can totally take care of myself."

"That's good, now go take care of the kids as well as yourself."

Em walked off to confront the guy. Owen forgets that Em can be a bit like Darcy in which neither take anything from anybody. In fact they’re both at the same level in their martial arts classes and both came up with the motto "fight, not flight". Otherwise, they were completely different people.

"Hey, creep! What’s with you following us around?"

The creep had an amused look on his face, as if this were some kind of joke.

"I've been trying to talk to the two of you for quite a while, but you were too close to the children."

"Well, I'm here. Talk."

"Do you happen to know a half-ghost girl with raven black hair and green eyes?"

"What's it to you?"

"Well, she's at home and I can't go in and I need someone to drag her out."

"Why can't you ask her yourself?"

"She knows me, and she wouldn't let me in. I need permission to enter someone's home."

"What are you, some kind of vampire?"

At this he smiled, showing his sharp canines.

"Why, yes, in fact, I am."

She wasn't sure if this guy was for real or not. All she knew was that something bad was going down if she didn't do something about it. He made a grab for her and she blocked and countered it with a roundhouse kick. It hit its target, but he didn't react to it. It seemed like it was more of a playful tap to him. In her surprise, she continued to attack with the same result. Eventually she stopped when she realized that what she was doing wasn't working.

"My turn."

Faster than her reflexes, he grabbed Em by the throat and tossed her down like a plush toy. He let her take a few breathes before stomping down on her and pinning her to the ground.

"Ah, humans. You think you can take on anything that challenges you. This is what I miss during all those years in the Ghost Zone."

Owen, during this time, was calling up the police. Now, he decided to go over and try to get Em out of there. He tried to charge at him, but the guy swung him around and the poor boy was sent flying a few feet away.

"I only need one of you two to bait the girl out of her house, the other could just as easily be used to whet my appetite. It has been quite a long time since I had a taste of human blood."

He held up Owen by the collar of his shirt when he was saying this. When he finished he dropped him at his feet.

"But I can wait. I already had ectoplasm today and I don't want to fill myself up before I get my hands on her. You are very lucky, at least one of you."

He grabbed Em and kicked Owen over to his back.

"Enjoy your night, I promise to return her as soon as I no longer need her. I'm not making any promises that she will be in the same condition as she is now."

He disappeared with Em into the mist. By the time Owen managed to get up, the police had arrived and the whole neighborhood crowded around him, failing to process what had happened.

* * *

 

Ophelia was still pretty bummed that she missed out on the Danse Macabre. The only thing that was cheering her up was her theory of the party. Because the party was a tradition amongst all the ghosts in the Ghost Zone, it was more than possible that the party was boring. After all, she had never attended one before, for all she knew what her friends had told could be all hype. That will be something she'll have to prove next year, when a supposedly fictional parasitic being isn't trying to kill her and drain her of her life essence.

They had just went through all the iconic movies of the 1940's and were starting on the fifties. Ophelia was no longer in costume but now in her comfiest and most Goth looking set of sweats. Trix had regained enough of her strength to ditch the IV had Cujo sleeping in her lap, the little thing had tired himself out earlier when he was running around the house waiting for everyone to come home. Because of the recent incident at school that got her sent to haunted house duty, Ophelia had to activate the ghost shield they had installed into the house during the daytime to keep him from following her around and getting her in trouble. She hated to do it but she can't risk getting detention. Casper High only does haunted houses once a year.

"Johnny, don't you remember this movie?" Kitty asked in his arms.

"It's a little older than when we were alive. Wait, now I remember. This was the movie that was on TV when I first came over to your house. Your parents were watching it while a climbed into your window."

"You were regular Romeo, weren't you Johnny?" Ophelia said in a jocular tone, her eyes still glued to the screen.

"Oh, and I suppose you never had a guy your parents didn't approve of."

"You have to have dated to have at least one guy your parents don't approve of, A. And B, I highly doubt sneaking in though her window helped your case with them."

Johnny gave her an upsetting glare, and she just smiled.

"Dude, you know I'm kidding. Obviously you guys were meant to be together, for better or for worse. If you weren't, either you would have left her for the first blonde you drooled over or she would have blown you her kiss of death as soon as you laid eyes on another girl and let you stay there."

Kitty and Johnny looked at each other like they were about to go into an argument, but then they shrugged in agreement and returned their attention to the screen. It was then that Ophelia's phone started to ring in the kitchen. She excused herself from the living room and walked over to the kitchen. She checked the caller ID and found it was Owen. She answered the phone.

"Hey Owen," she greeted, "how's your trick or treating misadventure going?"

"I had to take the kids back home. Ophelia, something really bad just happened."

"Why did you have to take the kids home by yourself? I thought Em went with you."

"That's what I need you to talk to you about. Some guy took Em. He was looking for you and said he needed one of us to lure her out of the house. He said the only reason I'm alive is because he was saving room for you."

Ophelia was speechless for a moment. _He followed me to the haunted house. He was there the whole time!_

"Did you talk to the police?"

"I did, but when I told them that she was attacked by a vampire they laughed at me like they thought I was kidding. They're looking for a human, and I don't think they're prepared. Em tried to beat him down and he tossed her aside like a rag doll."

"Owen, I know exactly who you're talking about. Take your little sister and go home, do not answer the door for anyone. I'll let you know when it's safe. I'm calling my dad right now."

"Okay, be safe. Please call me in the morning if you're okay."

He hung up. She dialed her dad's cell number. Right now, she knew, her parents were at the NASA Halloween party and she didn't expect them until morning. Sadly, this was getting too crazy to handle herself, even she could admit to that. After a few rings, her dad answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Dad, you and mom have to come home right now."

"What's wrong honey? Is there a ghost after you?"

"No worse, apparently vampires are real and they feed off of ectoplasm as well as blood and it attacked Trix-and-tried-to-drink-my-blood-and-it-attacked-Owen-and-Em-and-it-took-Em-so-I-would-leave-the-house-to-save-her-and-I-don't-know-what-to-do! HELP!"

It took him a minute to process what she just said.

"Did you talk to the police?"

"Owen already did and they didn't believe him. They're looking for a human, and this thing is anything but."

"Stay in the house and put up the ghost shields, we'll be home soon."

"Okay."

As soon as she hung up her phone rang. It was Em's phone. She answered.

"Hello?"

It wasn't Em on the other line. It was a man's voice. A chill ran down her spine.

"By now you must know I have your friend. And you must know of my intent so I'll just get to the point. Meet me in the mausoleum of your town's cemetery. You can bring in reinforcements if you want or not, it won't make any difference to me."

Ophelia’s eyes flashed. The hand not holding the phone was curled into a fist and glowing. She only wished he was there talking to her face so he could blast his.

"You back off! You leave me and my friends alone. I've done nothing to you and neither have my friends. Why don't you just crawl back under the rock from whence you came and leave me alone!"

"I will, after I've had my fill of your blood. You either come now or I'll drain every drop of your friends, starting with the one I have now. I'll give you half an hour."

He hung up. Ophelia stared blackly out the window, trying not to drop the phone she still kept to her ear. She was still in this state when Cujo whimpered at her feet and her friends were standing in the kitchen. They listened in to the three phone calls and got the gist of the whole situation. It spared her from having to fill them in, but it didn't make her feel any better.

* * *

 

The Amity Park cemetery was a quiet and empty place. It was strictly a place to say goodbye and dispose the bodies of the dead to be forgotten. It used to be a place where people came to pay their respects after the funerals, but with the discovery of ghosts and the accessibility to travel between the worlds people decided to visit their relatives instead of their graves. No one, not even the ghosts, stay in the cemetery. The only exception was the Danse Macabre.

On Halloween, the natural portals would open more frequently, most would remain until the crack of dawn on November first. Because of this, the ghosts developed a tradition. During the day, they would visit the Human Plane to see the world they had left behind as well as the people they once knew. When the sun went down, they wore the evening clothes of their time period and would go to the cemeteries their bodies were buried in. All that night they would dance the night away to the songs that were as dead as they were. The dance would end on the approach of dawn, where they would return to their homes in the Ghost Zone while the portals were still open. Now that the living and the dead were on speaking terms more frequently, some of the rules of the Danse Macabre have been softened. Now the ghosts could hold the party wherever they wanted and dress in costumes like the humans do. In Amity Park, the ghosts still kept the tradition of the cemetery, and since they see humans all the time, they remained excluded from the event. The only humans in the cemetery tonight was the semi-famous half-ghost and her friends who was hidden somewhere amongst the graves.

"Okay," Said Ophelia when she laid eyes on the Danse Macabre, "I can safely throw my 'all hype' theory out the window."

It was the most extravagant party Ophelia had ever seen. The multicolored glow of ecto-energy illuminated the otherwise dark and gloomy burial ground. Music filled the air, from where she did not know. But she swore in the corner of her eye she could see musicians playing the music in the shadows. Ghosts dressed in vivid costumes danced on the ground and in the air. There was a small spread, for very few of the ghosts ate. Why she never went to one of these before, she didn't know and was kicking herself for it.

Ophelia went with Kitty, Johnny, a fully recovered Trix and a little Cujo in tow. She preferred they went back to their homes away from the overgrown, glorified mosquito, but it's also their party and they have just as much right to go as the next ghost.

"You guys enjoy the party," she told them when they arrived, I'll go over and handle this myself."

"Uh uh," Kitty said as she grabbed Ophelia by the shoulder when she was about to walk away, "there is no way I'm letting you do this alone."

"Neither am I," interjected Trix.

"I'm not going to have you guys get yourselves hurt because of me, _again,"_ she glared at Trix when she said that. "This is my problem and I have to deal with it alone."

"No, it isn't just your problem." said Kitty, "This a vampire, when it's done with you it will go after everyone in Amity Park, ghost or human. You're not the only one under obligation to take him down."

"Yeah," agreed Trix, "and besides we're ghosts. We're already dead, he can't do any worse than what he did to me. And as you can tell, I'm a fast healer."

"I still say no. He has my friend, he can kill her if he thinks there's a problem or on his own whim. I don't know how he will react with you guys coming with me and I don't want to risk it. You should enjoy the party, it's your right."

Before they could say anything, she promptly disappeared into the crowd. Kitty and Trix admitted surrender, but Johnny and Cujo thought otherwise. Without any hesitation, the ghost dog barreled after his owner, guarding her like the security dog he had once been.

"Shadow," Johhny commanded and his shadow rose to the ground in response, "follow Ophelia and make sure she doesn't get hurt. Report to me if there's trouble you can't handle."

Shadow nodded and sunk back into the ground. It crawled in the direction Ophelia left and disappeared into the mixture of other shadows on the ground. Johnny turned to his girlfriend, who was sporting a distressing look of concern, and comforted her.

"It'll be fine, Babydoll. The brat's too stubborn to die. My shadow will be there to let us know if anything goes wrong. Everything's going to be fine."

Kitty nodded and sunk into his chest to hide her tears. Johnny just stood there to comfort her. Trix saw this and walked off into the direction of the mausoleum. There was no need for her to be there but there was a need to be by her friend.

Meanwhile Ophelia was halfway across the cemetery where the mausoleum lied. She was amazed by the Danse as she emerged deeper and deeper into crowd of dancing ghosts.

"Phé?" She turned to find Richard.

"Oh, hey Richard."

"I thought you were staying home tonight. Aren't you worried about the vampire attacking you again?"

"Well, I am, but I couldn't just stay at home. Kitty agreed that I should be here tonight, she's somewhere around here keeping an eye on me." She looked down and saw Johnny's shadow overlapping hers. _Right on cue._

"Well, okay. Shall we dance?"

"I would, but I..." _I can't just tell him I'm on my way to be drained by a bloodthirsty leech._ "I have to meet someone first. Be back as soon as I can."

She darted off as fast as she could without it looking suspicious. She decided to fly the rest of the way there over, around, and through the crowd. In no time, she found the mausoleum at the edge of the cemetery concealed in the shadows. She shut her eyes and saw in the back of her head Em's golden color. She could tell that Em was both scared and steaming mad, mostly mad. She could tell that Em was planning to rip the guy apart limb from limb when she got the chance. What she couldn't sense was the vampire, and she was relieved by it.

She phased through the roof and landed into absolute darkness. Her ghostly glow was able to shed some light but not enough for any use. She formed a ball of ecto-energy like the ones she saw in the party and tossed it up into the air. Once it hit the ceiling it change from green to white and filled the whole room with light. She found Em lying on a stone coffin, her hands were behind her back indicating she was bound.

"Em, it's me." She whispered, "come on, we're getting you out of here."

She didn't respond. Concerned, Ophelia walked over to her and shook her a little bit.

"Em? Are you okay? Wake up."

She shook her a little more and this time Em turned to her. She was pale, deathly pale, as if there was no blood in her. Her neck and clothes were stained in her own blood, Ophelia could see the stone was dripping with blood. She was speechless with shock. She nearly backed away, but then her senses came back to her. She checked her pulse, it was faint but it was still there. She found that Em was still breathing. She unbound Em and held her in her arms.

"Don't worry, Em, I'm getting you to a hospital."

She opened a portal to an ER right by an empty bed and placed Em on it. She was about to climb in after her but was grabbed and thrown across the room. She crashed into the stone wall, leaving a huge crack. She got up to find the portal closing and a man in Victorian style clothes approaching her.

"You took longer than I expected." he said non-chalantly, "She wouldn't stop talking, I had to silence her somehow."

"You said you wouldn't hurt her if I came."

"I said I wouldn't drain her completely. She still has enough blood for her heart to pump, she'll be okay for now. It's more than I can say for you."

He stepped forward and she threw a ghost ray at him. He grabbed it like it was a baseball and it absorbed into his body. He smiled at her, like an animal at its prey.

"Do you seriously think that would do anything to me? I feed of the energy of ghosts, that was a shot of espresso for me."

She got up and was phasing through the wall, but he grabbed her by her hair while she was half-way into the wall and threw her onto the stone coffin.

"Now, now the more you struggle the hungrier I get. The hungrier I get, the least likely you are to survive."

"How can you be hungry, you nearly killed two of my friends in one day!"

"Do you know what your blood tastes like? It is the most powerful, mouth-watering, irresistible thing I've ever tasted in my life. Telling me I've had enough is cutting off a heroine addict after they had a small taste of the good stuff. You always have enough room for the good stuff."

He moved his hand from her throat to her shoulders, pinning her down to the coffin. With all her might, she struggled out of his grip but to no avail. When she started to move her head around to move away from his teeth, he placed on of his hands on the back of her head to expose her neck and the jugular vein. Right when he was about to sink his teeth, something pushed him out of the way and freed Ophelia from his grasp. It was Johnny's shadow, in all the chaos Ophelia had forgotten about the shadow. Shadow tried to devour the vampire into its darkness, but the vampire overpowered it and threw it into the orb of light that still hung onto the ceiling. It recoiled in pain and scurried away from the mausoleum in search for its master.

_Gee, that was helpful._

She was about to run out through the walls but he grabbed her again.

"Now where were we?"

He positioned her the same way earlier, holding her down by the sternum to prevent movement and holding her head to expose the jugular vein. With only her struggling to deter him, he bit her and started drinking her blood.

She slowly felt her energy leave her as her heartbeat slowed from lack of blood. She could feel some of it ooze down her neck as a warm trickle and feel her clothes stick onto her body as it was being stained red. She started to feel dizzy and had a hard time keeping her eyes open let alone continue her struggle. Soon all she felt was his teeth digging into her neck greedily scraping up every drop.

Suddenly, the digging stopped. Somewhere faint and distant, she heard the sound of someone choking.

"You horrid little girl," she heard a voice say, "you tainted yourself with poison."

_What on Earth is he talking about?_

She turned her head and saw with her blurry vision a figure with a dripping red mouth with its hands at its throat. It sank to its knees and soon it became harder and harder to see the figure. It seemed to be crumbling to dust before her very eyes. Soon all there was was a pile of dust and bloodstains on the floor. That was when see could no longer keep her eyes open. The last thing she remembered was a familiar voice screaming for her to wake up and two hands violently shaking her before retracting in pain.

* * *

 

She heard a faint sound of beeping and pattering, after a while she got herself to open her eyes She was lying on a bed in a hospital room. The beeping was from the heart monitor and the pattering was from rain falling against the window. She got up slowly and found her parents asleep in their chairs.

"Mom? Dad?" she said groggily.

They woke up at the sound of her voice.

"Ophelia?"

"Sweetie?"

Once they saw it was her and she was awake they ambushed her with hugs.

"Oh, my poor baby!" her mother said while squeezing the air out of her daughter's lungs.

"Easy Sam," her father warned her mother, "I don't think she's strong enough yet to go without breathing."

"I'm not." Ophelia choked out.

"Oh, sorry hun." Her mother retracted while blushing. "How are you feeling?"

"Throbbing neck and now broken ribs aside, I think I'll live."

"You got us worried," said her father, "by the time we got home there was nobody there and a phone call from the hospital."

"How's Em?" Ophelia asked.

"You should be more worried about yourself. I told you to stay home until your mother and I got there."

"But he had her and threatened to kill her if I didn't give myself up."

"And looked what happened? They found you bleeding to death in a sealed tomb. You barely had enough blood left in you to sustain a heartbeat."

"I couldn't have let my friend die. She was in a worse state than I probably was when I found her."

"Look, Ophelia!" her mother shouted, "You can't go and sacrifice yourself for everyone. You have to think more practically about these things. Do you think Em or anyone would forgive themselves if you got yourself killed for them?"

"Where's Em? Is she okay?"

"She's fine, she got discharged yesterday."

"Yesterday! How long have I been out?"

"You've been out for three days.” Said her father, “You could've recovered earlier but the doctors kept trying to give you blood transfusions. You'd think they'd listen to the famous Danny Phantom when he says that his half-ghost daughter has an immune system that rejects normal blood types."

Ophelia smiled, then a thought hit her.

"You said that I was already at the hospital when you got home. Who brought me here?"

"That new kid at your school." answered her mother.

"The ghost who's pretending to be human," her father added, "I think he said his name was Richard Something."

"Richard Waltz?"

"Yeah that's it. He said he saw you at the party and followed into the mausoleum after he saw Johnny's shadow retreat from it. He and the Dodgson boy have been visiting you every day."

"Is he here?"

"Yeah, I think so.." Just then, both Ophelia's and her father’s ghost sense went off as Richard walked into the room.

"Ophelia, you're awake! How are you feeling?"

"As any other person would feel after being drained by a vampire and suffocated by their concerned mother."

"Does that mean you're okay?"

Ophelia smiled.

"Yes, yes it does."

Richard walked over and gave her a soft hug.

"How did you defeat the vampire?" She asked.

"Actually, I was going to ask you the same question. When I came in, there was nothing but a pile of smoldering ashes and you were dripping with blood. I got stung by it when I tried to wake you up by the way."

Ophelia thought about it, she did remember someone trying to wake her up. She also remembered the overgrown leech yelling at her about being poisoned. _Poisoned!_

"I think I know what happened. You should add this to your vampire notes. Blood Blossoms are lethal to vampires when consumed. He must have drank enough that the blossoms in my system killed him."

Richard smiled at her.

"So you're vampire proof as well as ghost proof? You are one of a kind, Ophelia Fenton."

"Thanks, I never want to do that again."

 


	11. Fairest of Them All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam takes Ophelia along to meet an old friend.

 It had been a tiring afternoon for the world’s only natural born half ghost. After school, Track practice, and the little tutorials with Richard somewhere in between, Ophelia flew (not walked) straight home and crash landed onto the couch in the living room. Her even faithful canine companion pattered up and nuzzled her for his daily dose of affection. She let out a groan from the cushions as she sat up and held Cujo in her lap.

“You understand what a cell phone is, don’t you boy?” she said to Cujo, recalling her tutorial with Richard. Cujo barked an oblivious reply.

“Yeah, you do. And if a dog – no, a _ghost dog_ – can understand what a cell phone is, a ghost _boy_ should figure it out too. Ugh, I need to rot this day out of my brain, fast.”

Cujo panted happily, giving no clear sign about his opinion. Ophelia smile as she grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned on the TV.

A few minutes later her mother entered the door, equally exhausted from a long day of work.

 “Hey sweetie, how was your day?”

Ophelia said nothing. She appeared to be too absorbed by the TV to notice.

“Nice to hear you had a great day at school.” Her mother said snarky after failing to get her daughter’s attention, “I had a long day myself, and it’s still not done. I have to go over and have dinner with an old friend. From high school. In the Ghost Zone.”

 Ophelia put the TV on mute and looked over at her mother curiously. True, her parents were on good terms with many ghosts. In fact, they had just as many friends as they did enemies. However, never in her life had Ophelia seen a ghost invite them over for dinner (usually because none of them would eat frequent enough for the occasional dinner).

“Dinner? In the Ghost Zone? What kind of friend is this? Is Dad going with you?”

“Sadly no, he has to do overtime at the station tonight. You can come with me if you like. Though, I’m not sure it would be your cup of tea.”

“Are you kidding? I love seeing your old high school friends, it lets me know how crazy you really were.”

“Well, Dora is definitely a surprise.”

“Then I’m definitely going.”

“Okay, but I must warn you. She has a little dress code. Her realm is trying to catch up with the times, but they’re trying to do it slowly so they won’t be driven mad.”

“So I have to dress in period clothing, how bad could that be?”

* * *

 

 “Really, really bad. I hate it!”

When Ophelia heard she had to dress in period clothing, she thought of something as early as the 18th century. She didn’t expect to be thrown into the Dark Ages. Her mother gave her a dress with puffy sleeves and a skirt that trailed all the way down the stairs. It came with a headdress to tuck away every strand of hair on her head, though the bulk of it itself was twice the size of the head it covered.

“Oh, come on, Phé.” Her mother said from inside her and her father’s closet, “It isn’t any worse than something your grandmother gives you.”

“That’s like saying it isn’t anything worse than getting your teeth pulled and you _know_ it!”

“Why don’t you fix it? That’s what I do with all the clothes I have to wear to see Dora.”

Mom stepped out of the closet to show one of her altered outfits. The skirt fell down to the ankle and adorned the top layer of the skirt with a thin silvery fabric similar to cobwebs. The headdress was nothing more then a small cover that held a veil of the same cobweb fabric, the headdress was held by silver skulls. A silver skull was also found adorning a black choker.

Ophelia glared at the dress with a mischievous smile. The dress began to glow green and disintegrated in her hands. She brushed off the ash off her hands with a smug look on her face. The two white rings appeared and changed her into a purple gown with a corseted back and a skirt that stopped right at her toes. The long sleeves fanned out from the elbow to the wrist. A silver and amethyst diadem rested on her head. Her hair was pulled back, with stray strands falling on the sides of her face.

“Fixed it!” she announced.

Mom scowled at her child with a hand on her hip.

“For someone who doesn’t like to use her powers, you sure use them a lot.”

“Hey, I never said I didn’t want to use my powers, I just don’t want to use them to fight. I think I have a right to have it both ways.”

“In a perfect world, yes, but this is a world of supervillains and bad laws. And you need to learn to do things without your powers.”

“And you need to learn how to walk without legs.” Ophelia scoffed. “Or how to look at a picture without eyes. Which reminds me,” she went rummaging through her closet and pulled out two cameras.

“What do you think, Mom, film or digital?”

“Stick with film, technology is a little sketchy there. We’ve only managed to get the Speeder to work without any issues, but small things like a camera will short out at any given moment.”

“Meaning, I’ll lose my pictures?”

“Pretty much, I think it happened before when your father and I tried to get some for our database back in high school.”

Ophelia shrugged and stashed the digital camera away. She pulled out a camera bag equipped with everything she would need for her film camera. She followed her mother out of the room towards the garage where the Speeder was stored. She looked down at her camera.

“I hope you’re right about this place, Owen’s going to love them.”

“You’re still talking to him? I thought you guys would keep your distance from each other since he asked you out.”

Ophelia was very lucky she had the camera strapped around her neck; else she would have dropped it down the stairs.

“Where’d you hear that?”

“Parents talk, your friends’ parents like to talk about their kids.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes.

“He wasn’t really asking me out, we just haven’t seen each other-“

“Since you walked into his dream. Your father told me about that one.”

Ophelia’s faced went red.

“That couldn’t have meant anything, people dream weird stuff all the time. He probably got over it by now; crushes can go just as easily as they came. We’re just friends, that’s all we’re ever going to be.”

Her mother smirked; she’s heard that before.

“Sure, sure, forget I mentioned it.”

“Thank you” Ophelia said relieved. She put her camera away in her bag while following mom down the stairs.

 _Went into the boys head and she still think they’re just friends._ Sam thought. _Clueless._

* * *

 

Over the years, the palace started to radiate with life (or afterlife, as the case may be). The once dead forest was filled with lush green trees and singing birds (whether the birds were truly there was unknown). The black waters became a crystal blue as it surrounded the castled it the moat and streams. The castle itself, a once dark and dismal grey that crumbled and cracked, was now a stone blue and covered in green, green ivy.

And then there was the sun, or whatever bright light emulated the sun. That was the first thing to arrive after the dethroning of Aragon. The light shined brightly against the jade green sky (the only thing to indicate that this was still the Ghost Zone), radiating energy onto the land softly and sweetly as the real sun on the Human Plane. The look of awe on Ophelia’s face brought a smile to Sam’s face.

“Wow, this is definitely on the top five on the list of awesome places in the Ghost Zone.”

Sam looked back at her curiously.

“You have a list?”

“Not me, something my friends put together at school. We started putting a scrapbook together with all the pictures I’ve been taking.” Ophelia started putting her camera together as she said that. “This place might be a four-pager.”

Sam smiled as she landed the Speeder in front of the castle, across the moat. Ophelia darted out and started snapping pictures.

The drawbridge dropped across the moat. A few guards, dressed in blue and green, flanked the entrance as the princess of the realm, Dorothea Aragon, approached the Fenton women. Sam walked up to her and they hugged each other.

“Sam, it’s so good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too, Dora.” Sam took Ophelia’s hand and pulled her towards Dora.

“Dora, this is my daughter, Ophelia. Ophelia, I would like to introduce to you Princess Dorothea. She rules this entire realm.”

Ophelia smiled genuinely, though she clawed her mother’s wrist in response to the word “princess”. Dora smiled as she placed her hands on the girl’s shoulders.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Ophelia, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Really, I don’t think my mother has ever told me anything about you.” She turned to her mother. “Especially about you being a _princess._ ” She hissed through her smile.

Sam bit her lip. Ever since she was little, Ophelia hated anything involving princesses. The very mention of it, as Sam had seen, made her inwardly cringe. She and Danny had thought it was something she had got from her mother or a nasty aftertaste from her grandmother’s cotillion summers, but as they got older they had notice it was something a little more serious than a personality trait. To this day, they never knew why Ophelia hated anything under the princess category, but they found that Ophelia hardly knew herself.

“I suppose it is hard to explain someone like me without seeing them in person.“

She looked Ophelia over. “Look at you, you have all of your parents best features. You look just like your mother did when I took her-“

“Took me horseback riding.” Sam said nervously while elbowing Dora. “This place is so beautiful for riding that she let me do with her.”

Ophelia raised a suspicious eyebrow with a wry smile. _This trip might not blow after all._

* * *

 

 When Dora explained that dinner wouldn’t be for a while, Ophelia disappeared into the many chambers of the castle with her camera. As she filled the candlelit halls with bulb flashed, Dora and Sam made themselves at home with the most lavished and brightly lit parlors this realm had to offer. Music and wine was also offered, which Sam graciously took a glassful.

“She is quite an amusing young girl, Sam.” Dora said, “Why haven’t you or you husband taken her to our realm before?”

“Well, you know. Our schedules get so busy and they don’t quite sync up well. And she used to spend most of her summers with her grandmother so…” Sam downed her wine. Dora raised an eyebrow. She stared down at her glass as she swirled the wine around.

“Ah, that makes sense. For some reason, I thought it had something to do with our past history. Particularly with my brother-“

Sam choked on her wine so hard that she had to spit it out. Dora turned herself intangible just in time to miss the backwash.

“I thought this had something to do with Aragon.” Dora smiled as she made herself tangible.

Sam was still coughing when she argued.

“It’s just…” cough “…a little embarrassing…” cough, cough, “ to tell my daughter I almost got…” cough, cough, “…married off to…” cough, cough, cough,

Dora patted Sam’s back to help her clear her throat.

“There, there, how about you clear out your throat before you talk, hm? Honestly, I’m surprised I got you fit enough to stand on stage for that pageant, let alone for Aragon.”

Sam smiled when she finally got her throat cleared.

“Like I would ever let you put me in anything pink. Anyway, I don’t think it would be a good idea mentioning your brother around Ophelia, okay? I want to keep her as ignorant of that knowledge as possible.”

“Oh come on, Sam. It’s not that embarrassing nearly being betrothed to someone as horrible as my brother. You should be looking back at this and laughing.”

“I am, I’d just rather laugh quietly, and alone. I’ll tell her eventually, so if you don’t mind…”

Dora raised her hand.

“It’s alright, I won’t mention anything to her unless you tell me when it’s okay.”

Sam smiled as she took another sip.

“I guess we can talk about him while we’re out of earshot, how is the royal pain anyway?”

Dora rolled her eyes.

“Still a pain, but at least he’s rotting away in the dungeons where I don’t have to suffer his temper tantrums.”

“Ugh, my sympathies sister.”

“Well, he doesn’t have his amulet anymore, leaving him without any powers to act out his emotions.”

“If I haven’t mentioned before, I’ll mention it now. You are a better ruler than your brother ever was.”

“That’s because you helped me stand up to him, you and Danny. I just hope your daughter becomes as great a friend as you have been to me.”

“I have no doubts in that.”

Sam raised her glass for a toast.

“To a great kingdom without Aragon.”

Dora smiled and raised her glass.

“To a great kingdom without Aragon.” She said as she clinked her glass with Sam’s.

* * *

 

 Ophelia lost herself in her photography. She had taken pictures of practically every room in the castle from the topmost towers and now the depths of the dungeons. It had become far too dark for her flash to compensate, and so she generated a ball of white light and tossed it up into the air. The darkness and the fact that she had to phase through the locked doors reminded her of Halloween, though she shrugged off the memory quite easily. Why worry your mind over a dead parasite when there were worse things to worry about?

She made her way down into a cell block. Most of them were empty and locked shut, ready to be occupied by the next non-corporeal prisoner. But there was one cell on the end, more fortified and decorated than the others, where the door was left wide open from what Ophelia could see from her side of the block.

“Curious” she whispered as she flew over. Once she got close, she found that there were armed guards flanking the doors. They lay unconscious on the floor, or at least they seemed unconscious at first glance. When Ophelia got close enough to them, she could hear them groan under their armor. Whatever had happened, it had left them too weak to get up under the weight of the armor.

Ophelia snapped a couple more picture of the cell and guards before helping them up.

“Are you guys okay?”

“We are afraid not, milady,” answered one of the guards, “none of us are ‘okay’ as you say?”

“What happened?”

“The Prince has escaped.” Replied the other, “ and he has surely found his amulet by now.”

“Prince? Amulet? What on earth are you talking-“

Just at that moment, the whole palace shook. A bellow from a ferocious beast soon followed after it along with a few screams. Ophelia’s eyes flashed in surprise.

“What was that?”

“The Prince has found his power once more.” Said the guard ominously.

The castle shook once again. More screams could be heard.

“Mom!” Ophelia flew though the ceiling until she fond the parlor she last saw her mother. The room was empty. There was a mess but it was more from a hasty evacuation rather than a struggle.

“Mom?” Ophelia called out. She walked up to the large doors that led to the dining hall. She opened to find a large crimson eye staring back at her. Having yet to assess the situation, Ophelia snapped a picture of the eye. The eye turned into large jagged teeth that let out a roar that blew Ophelia’s hair back.

“My, what big teeth you have.” She said in slight shock.

Right when those teeth were to snap a bite at her, Ophelia shut the door and locked it. She pressed her back against the door for assurance.

The creature burst through the door, knocking them halfway across the room with Ophelia under them. She phased through the doors and sat up, still trying to gather her bearings. As she did so, she noticed a big black claw with green talons not too far from her head. She followed the claw upwards to find it belong to a very large, black dragon with purple wings and spines running down his back and green horns on his head, wings, and the end of his tail (similar to a medieval flail).

“Whoa” Ophelia said, “I know that no medieval castle is ever complete without a dragon, but. …whoa.”

The dragon lowered his head to inspect the tiny girl at his feet. His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. He bared his teeth as he let out a threatening snarl.

The dragon he raised his claw, poised to tears the ghost girl to shreds. Right when Ophelia generated an ecto-sheild to protect herself, a ghost ray was shot at the dragon’s claw, causing it to recoil. Ophelia dematerialized the shield when she saw the shot came from her mother and her smoking lipstick.

“The Fenton Lipstick, Mom? Seriously? Why don’t you go ahead and save my life with the Fenton Eyelash Curler?”

“Now is not the time to criticize my choice of weaponry,” her mother chided, “we have to get out of here, now!”

“What about Dora?”

Just as she mentioned Dora, the dragon took in a deep breath. He breathed out an intense blue flame. Ophelia ducked out of the way, though not enough to keep her hair from being singed an inch shorter. Once she safely rolled to her mother’s side, her mother grabbed her by the arm and led her out.

“No time, Ophelia, Dora will have to handle it herself.”

Her mother led her out to the Spectre Speeder across the moat. She shut the door after Ophelia and started up the ship. They flew out of the portal before they could see the dragon making any attempt to follow them.

* * *

 

  “That was a _dragon_! A full-grown, fire breathing, fresh from the story book _dragon!_ ”

As soon as they were safely at home, Ophelia spent what seemed like the rest of the night badgering her mother for answers.

“What was a dragon doing in Dora’s castle?”

“He’s a…. family pet.” her mother covered quickly, “Dora has had him as long as she could remember.”

“Some pet, that thing tried to freaking _eat me_!”

“Yeah, well the family does have their anger issues. It shouldn’t be surprise that the family dragon is irascible as well.”

“Shouldn’t we go back there, or go call up postmortem animal control or something? And what about that prisoner?”

Her mother’s eyes widened.

“What prisoner?”

“I was down in the dungeons taking pictures and saw a prison cell was broken open and the guards were knocked down. When I helped them up, they were talking about the prince has escaped and how we were all in grave danger and stuff like that. What prince are they talking about, I thought Dora was the only royalty.”

“Whatever they were talking about that dragon may have already taken care of it.” Ophelia narrowed her eyes. She usually gets straight answers from her parents regarding their pasts, but there were always a couple of occasions where they would lie if not clam up altogether. In those times she knew she was never going get the truth out of them. She could tell that this was one of those occasions.  She considered using her little talent to look into her mother’s memories, but that could take a lot out of her and she had no cover of how she got the information if she did. If her parents thought that going into someone’s dreams were an invasion of privacy, if not just plain rude, then they definitely wouldn’t approve of something as invasive as insight.

So, with a sigh of exhaustion, Ophelia ended her little interrogation and went up to her room in surrender. Or at least, she was giving up for now.

* * *

 

  The next day may not have been as big as Ophelia had exaggerated to Owen about, but it was quite long. It was only lunchtime and she was exhausted. Today Richard was being exceptionally (and probably intentionally) clueless. She couldn’t believe she had to explain to him what a laptop was. All she wanted to do now was to buy her lunch and relax before her algebra test. She opened her locker and was about to put away her books when something fell out. It was a flower, a rather unnatural flower. It was a deep purple rose with a dark green stem. The thorns and some of the leaves were cut. She assumed it was bought from a pretty professional florist. There was a scroll of paper wrapped around the rose’s stem, tied neatly by a ribbon matching the color of the rose. She untied the ribbon and pulled the paper off the rose to read it.

_A rose to match the eyes of the fairest of them all._

_A rarity just like you yet its beauty pales in comparison._

 

Ophelia blushed. This had to be some sort of joke; one of the boys must’ve planted it in her locker to see if she got all gushy over a silly flower. Or maybe one of the girls to see if she would actually think someone would give her a rose. “Fairest of them all”? No boy in this century would actually write a line so corny. The note was handwritten in calligraphy letters, yet she couldn’t read a decent psyche off of it. Usually with handmade object, there would be a psyche attached to it from the effort and emotion caused to make it. But despite the beautiful and professional lettering, there was nothing attached to it. She concluded whomever bought the flower must have gotten someone to write the note for them. Whoever did this must have spent a pretty penny to put this whole thing together.

“To match the eyes…” her eyes were only purple in the Ghost Zone. Since none of her human friends ever go in there with her, it must have been a ghost. She immediately thought of Johnny. She and 13 weren’t exactly chummy. He would pick on the ghost girl like the kid whose new sibling had stolen all of mommy’s attention form him. She definitely wouldn’t put it past him to leave her a rose just to mess with her, especially when she had spent most of her free time in his realm complaining to Kitty about Owen’s crush on her.  But then again, he wouldn’t go out of his way like this for a practical joke. And if Kitty caught her with a flower and a love note, he would’ve wished he were alive so she could just kill him again. But then if Johnny couldn’t have done it, who did?

She was deep in thought, but not enough for her to not sense Richard coming her way.

“Hello Ophelia, what a beautiful flower you’ve got there.”

Ophelia meekly smiled at him while she twirled the flower between her fingers.

“Yeah, somebody left it in my locker with a note.”

“A note?” He said with curiosity, “Let me see.”

She handed him the note. He took a quick glance over the note before he handed it back to her with a sly smile.

“It looks to me like you have a suitor chasing after you.”

“Pff, please, this is someone’s idea of a joke I assure you. It’s no one human since the note suggests that they would’ve seen my form in the Ghost Zone, and no human ever goes into the Ghost Zone. Too expensive a trip. So it must be a ghost with a bad sense of humor.”

He lifted her chin to inspect her eyes.

“Why is it that you girls nowadays always have to be so insecure about yourselves? I believe that anyone could find you attractive. In fact, with eyes like yours, you truly could be the fairest of them all… as your suitor says.”

Ophelia blinked in disbelief. She blushed when she noticed how close his face was to hers when he said that.

“I-I better head to the cafeteria, you know, before they run out of the edible stuff.”

She backed out of Richard’s hand and walked off in the direction of the cafeteria.

Ophelia stashed the rose and note in an open pocket in her bag.

* * *

 

 Over the next few days, the flowers kept coming in abundance. Soon, it was more than flowers being sent. Furs and jewels and perfumes with scents to rival that of the roses. They were always attached with purple roses with parchment scrolls filled with verses of love and adoration.

 

_….Your smile makes my unbeating heart flutter…_

 

_….Your laugh rings to mine ears sweeter than the chiming of bells…._

 

_….I gasp for air as I crave the breath from your sweet lips…_

 

None were signed with a name and none left a single trace of psyche. All of them were addressed to her the same way:

 

_To the fairest of them all_

 

As sweet as it all was, Ophelia couldn’t help but find the whole thing nauseating. It was overly romantic in both sense of the word, and the fact that she got flowers nearly twice a day was a little excessive.

“Why don’t you take any of these flowers home?” asked Darcy as she, Abi, and Em stood by Ophelia’s locker. “There doesn’t seem to be much space left in your locker for them.”

“I’d rather not have my parents know about the whole secret admirer thing. If you haven’t noticed, they’re a little over protective.”

“A little?” Darcy scoffed, “Girl, your parents smother you worse than a pillow. Your dad scared away the paper boy because he thought he looked at you funny.”

“Exactly, how do you think he’ll feel when he hears about the English garden in my locker and Coleridge’s greatest hits to go with it? He’ll put the entire male student body on the hot seat. I might as toss these before he finds out. “

“Wait!” Abi screeched out before Ophelia could move a muscle. She snatched up a ruby necklace and swung it in front of her. “Don’t you want to keep some of this stuff? I mean, this is some really fancy stuff Phé. And you don’t know, what if this secret admirer of yours isn’t bad looking? How do you think he’ll feel if he saw you toss out all these notes he toiled so hard on?”

“Or the jewels he spent a ton of cash on?” Ophelia said with a half smile.

Abi looked at her sheepishly, clutching the ruby tightly to her chest like a child would her favorite teddy bear. “Maybe”

Ophelia rolled her eyes with a full smile.

“Whoever sent me these notes certainly didn’t toil over them. I can tell that he had someone write it for him.”

Darcy inspected one of the notes.

“Yeah, you’re right. They definitely were done by pen and ink, no question, but it looks too well done. Too perfect. If this was written by your Purple Paramour, there would’ve been a few flaws by the passion of his words, these letters were made with the passion of a robot.”

Ophelia blinked at the deduction.

“Um, right, that’s exactly what I was thinking… Wait, Purple Paramour? That’s the name you’re sticking with for this guy?”

Darcy shrugged.

“Would’ve gone for Prince Charming because of how all the notes call you the ‘fairest of them all’, but that seems too clichéd to me.”

Ophelia groaned as she materialized a trashcan in front of her locker.

“You can call this guy the King of Sweden for all I care, but it won’t help me find him and get him to cut it out.”

“I agree with Phé on finding this guy,” Em said as she helped Ophelia empty out her locker, “the first few notes were alright and all, but this is starting to hit the creeper borderline.”

“Do you have any ideas who this ‘Purple Paramour’ could be?” Abi asked as she tried on the necklace in front on her compact mirror, “do you expect anyone we know? Lab partners, someone from the boys track team…next door neighbors perhaps.”

“Smooth,” Ophelia glared at Abi with half open eyes as she held up a flat hand to cut across the air. “Maybe you should go over and ask Owen yourself.”

“I’m not the one he’s crushing on.”

“Well as far as he knows, neither am I.”

“Oh, really, so he asked you out in his sleep or something?”

Ophelia’s cheeks darkened as she tried to stay visible.

“For the last time, Abi, it wasn’t for a real date.”

“And besides, this isn’t Owen’s style.” Em interjected, inspecting the note she was about to throw away. “I sit next to him in English class and trust me, poetry is not his forté. And he’s more of a ‘paint a beautiful portrait out of memory’ type, not a ‘love letter in the locker’ type.”

“Is there anyone you suspect would send all these to you?” Darcy asked.

Ophelia giggled under her breath as she looked down the large pile of letters she had just cleaned from her locker.

“You know, Trix had this crazy theory that it was… nah, it’s dumb.”

All three looked her way curiously, the deviation in their smiles ranged from Em’s peeked interest to Abi’s absolute hunger for juicy gossip.

“Who, who does she think is the Paramour is?” Abi asked, almost bouncing with anticipation.

“Nah, you’ll think it’s dumb.” Ophelia waved it off.

“We’ll be the judges of that.” Darcy said, “go on, tell us.”

Ophelia shrugged.

“Alright, she thought it was that new boy, Richard Waltz. The one I’m tutoring?”

“Richard Waltz?” Em asked surprised.

“Yeah,” for some reason, she couldn’t explain without giggling. “I told her how he sometimes pretends to be hopelessly dumb just to hang out, and how I’m the only one he actually hangs out with after school. I think it’s because he’s shy and doesn’t know how to make friends, but she thinks it’s because he’s got a crush on me.”

When she finally got the giggles out of her system, she noticed Darcy, Em, and Abi exchange knowing looks that made her uneasy.

“What?” she demanded.

They didn’t say anything, they just smiled at her mischievously. Ophelia groaned.

“Oh come on, not you too. It’s _not_ Richard, there’s no way it could be Richard.”

“Why not?” Darcy said, “Because he happens to be one of the cutest guys in school, or do you have an alibi for his every waking minute?”

“Please don’t play Detective Adler right now, I’m serious. It can’t be Richard, why would he send me anonymous love letters when he can just ask me out if he wanted to?”

“One reason could be that you turned down your best friend.”

“Objection, inadmissible evidence.”

“Fine, Councilor Fenton, retracted, another reason is that he’s definitely a romantic type. I wouldn’t put it past him to shower you with gifts and affection.”

“Yeah, I can totally see it.” Em grabbed one of the notes and pretended to pluck it from what appeared to be a tree.

“From the east to western Ind,

No jewel is like Rosalind.”

“Okay, very funny, now give it back.” Ophelia reached out to grab it, but Em stepped way at the last second. She continued her monologue. “Her worth, being mounted on the wind,

 Through all the world bears Rosalind.

All the pictures fairest lined

Are but black to Rosalind.

Let no fair be kept in mind

But the fair of Rosalind.”

Ophelia finally snatched the parchment from Em’s hand and went over to the trashcan full of letters.

“Richard is not the Purple Paramour, because there _is_ no Purple Paramour.” She proclaimed as she tossed the paper into the bin. “It’s just someone taking a joke way too far. So can we please just drop it?”

All three girls raised their hands in surrender.

“Sure, sure, whatever.” Darcy answered, “If you want to play pretend, go ahead.”

Abi looked and Ophelia with the eyes of a puppy begging for affection. Ophelia rolled her eyes as she extended her arms towards the piles of clothes and jewels in her locker.

“Go ahead, they’re all going into the bin anyway.”

With a cheerful screech, Abi hugged the air out of Ophelia before picking through all the gifts in her locker. She looked over to Em and Darcy.

“You can get some stuff, too, if you want.”

“Oh please,” Darcy scoffed, “that stuff looks like something from a princess’s yard sale.”

Em looked at the gifts rather guiltily.

“What about you, Em? Don’t you want any of this stuff?”

As soon as she said that, she saw the answer in her friend’s psyche.

“I’m sorry, Phé, but you know how my mom is. She’ll flip her wig if she hears that I’ve been hanging around with you, let alone accepting stuff from you. She’ll think this stuff is cursed and I’ll turn into a werewolf, or something.”

Ophelia hung her head.

“Okay, I understand.”

After a moment or two of awkward silence, the school bell interrupted.

“Better get to class.” Darcy said as she walked off. Em followed as well as Abi as she tried to zip up her overstuffed backpack. Darcy looked back.

“You coming, Phé?”

“My class is close by, I’ll just clean up the rest of this junk and then head off.”

“Alright, see you at lunch.”

They left Ophelia to clean up the rest of the chaos confined to her locker. After every non-school thing was in the trashcan, Ophelia couldn’t help but look them over. Perhaps her friends are right; perhaps it wasn’t a joke. What person, living or dead, would go to this extent just to mess with her? Then it came to Ophelia. Richard _is_ the kind of romantic to do something like this, and this definitely wasn’t anything a person from _this_ time period would do. Maybe…

 “What am I thinking?” Ophelia said aloud. “Couldn’t be him…could it?”

She shook her head. She shot the trashcan with her ghost ray; all evidence of the Purple Paramour disappeared into green oblivion. After taking out the books she needed, Ophelia shut her clean locker and raced to her next class.

* * *

 

  She went straight home after school. Coach Baxter wouldn’t care less about his half ghost track co-captain and Richard…well, whatever silly problem he had could wait. She didn’t want to deal with anything right now, she just wanted to go straight home and forget about this whole Purple Paramour drama.

She dropped by the photo store to pick up her negatives and CD scans. She didn’t even bother to look at them when she slipped the CD into the Dodgson’s mail slot and walked over to her house. She went straight up the stairs and phased through the door (she wasn’t in the mood to open doors). She buried her face into her pillow as she savored the moment of silence before it went away. Cujo, roused from his rest from the redistribution of weight on the bed, went to his mistress. His nose nudging at one of her arms in hopes of them lifting and rubbing his little head. When they did not, he pawed at them with a yelp.

“Not now, Cujo, I’m not in a good mood.”

Cujo whimpered and went back to nudge at her with his non-corporeal nose. Ophelia lifted her head enough for one of her eyes to show. It looked at the ghost dog blankly before it hinted a smile. She raised her head from the pillow and, at last, petted the green puppy sweetly on his little head. He patted happily and leaped at his owner, showering her with slobbery wet kisses.

“Cujo, stop.” She laughed, “It takes forever to scrub off your drool.”

There came a knock on the door.

“Ophelia, honey, are you in there?” asked her mother’s voice from the other side of the door.

“Yes, mom, come in.” she replied as she tried to pry Cujo from her face.

The door opened halfway and her mother stuck her head. Ophelia could see enough of her mother’s body positioning that she was holding something behind her back.

“You’re home early,” Her mother said, “don’t you have track practice?”

“I didn’t feel like going,” Ophelia replied honestly, “it’s not like Baxter is going to care, anyway.”

Her mother shrugged.

“I know I should say that you shouldn’t skip out on activities because you don’t feel like it and it’s your irresponsibility as co-captain, but I think you should deserve a day off once in a while.”

“Thanks”

Her mother smiled, but Ophelia could see a hint of playfulness behind it.

“Ophelia, honey, is there something you should tell me about?”

Ophelia’s eyes dimmed in her confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“I came home earlier today and found something hanging in the front door.”

“What was that?”

Mom stepped into Ophelia’s room pulling out a dress from behind her back. It was a deep shade of violet that was almost magenta, with sleeves that fanned out and a skirt that fell to the floor (and with Ophelia’s stature would trail behind her). It was made of pure silk, save for the Black lace that trimmed it and the white cotton crinoline that lined the inside of the skirt. The style of the dress placed it somewhere between the fifteenth and eighteenth century. Pinned to the dress, over the heart, was a purple rose wrapped in parchment paper. Ophelia felt a wave of anxiety as she knew what the note would say.

 

_To the fairest of them all…._

 

“Ophelia, is there something I should know about?” Mom sounded like she was trying to suppress a laugh.

Ophelia’s widened before disappearing completely with the rest of her.

“Oh my gosh, this guy is insane!”

“What, guy, sweetie?”

“There’s this joker who’s been leaving me flowers and junk in my locker. I thought it was a bad joke so I ignored it, but this is getting ridiculous.”

Mom released a small giggle.

“Aww, sweetie, you’ve got a secret admirer.”

An exasperated groan was made as a pillow floated into the air and pulled back into the bed.

“And now this guy is leaving his token of affections out for the whole world to see. This is so humiliating.”

Mom sat on the bed by the floating pillow and placed her hand over the dent in the pillow in the shape of a human head. When she felt her daughter’s hair, she stroked it tenderly.

“Well, this guy sounds like he’s really into you. I mean, you’d have to be pretty dumbstruck with love to even think of coming to our front door.”

Ophelia groaned.

“What am I suppose to do, Mom? He won’t leave me alooooone!”

“Do you even know who this person is?”

“No, or else I would have punched their lights out a week ago.”

“Well, do you have any ideas?”

Ophelia became visible again and sat up. She pulled a pillow from behind her and clutched it tightly in her arms and legs.

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear it from the Moms of Amity Park Newsletter.” She said with a hint of a smile. “ _I_ might not have any ideas, but my friends have a notion of their own.”

“Maybe you should ask this guy, he could be your admirer. I know these kinds of people: they write you these letters because they are too shy to talk to you in person. They want you to make the first move, since they can’t do it themselves. If you call them on it, they’ll fess up to being the admirer.”

Ophelia stared down at the floor.

“I guess you’re right.”

Mom kissed Ophelia on the head and headed out the room.

“Trust me, baby, this is the only way to make the letters go away.” Then she stopped at the door. “Unless of course, you say yes to that date with Owen.”

Ophelia perked her head up with bright red cheeks.

“Mom!”

* * *

 

 The next day, Ophelia stood around the corner at Richard’s locker. When he arrived at the locker, she mustered up all her courage and approached him. Strange, she thought, Mom’s idea of confronting him didn’t seem as good as it did yesterday.

“Hey Richard?”

Richard looked over the locker door. He smiled when he saw who called him and shut the locker door.

“Hello Ophelia, how may I help you?”

On second thought, Mom’s idea sucks.

“Did you…do you like me?”

Richard raised his eyebrow in confusion.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You know, do you…like, like me? I mean are you crushing on me?”

“Are you asking me if I fancy you?”

Ophelia sighed, releasing some of her tension.

“Yes” she said with a slight groan.

“Then yes, I fancy you quite a lot.”

“Really?”

“I left a few hints here or there, but I didn’t think you’ve noticed.”

Ophelia had an exasperated look.

“Really, you didn’t think I’d notice… are you for real?”

“I’m ethereal, if that counts for anything.”

Ophelia face palmed.

“Okay, how about this? There’s a dance coming up here at the school. Why don’t we go together, see how it goes, and you never pull this kind of stuff again? That sound good?”

Richard’s smile widened.

“That sounds like what you call a date?”

“I wouldn’t call it a ‘date’ date, it’s more like a ‘get off my back’ date. So, we’ve got a deal?”

Richard took her hand and looked at it.

“This century is quite a strange one.” He mused as he rubbed his thumb over her slender, almost boney fingers. “Back in my day, the men would do the courting and proposals and await for the woman’s response.” He brought the hand to his lips. “But yes, it’s a deal. Or rather, it’s a date.” He kissed her hand.

Ophelia blushed as she pulled her hand away.

“Okay, good, you’re happy and I’m happy. No more of these little games, no more flirting, no more love notes in the locker. Good, so we’ll discuss this more at lunch okay? Later, bye.”

With that, Ophelia rushed off to her next class, leaving Richard to stand there and stare at the empty space by his locker.

Ophelia saw Abi, Darcy and Em at their lockers.

“You were right, Richard likes me, gotta get to class, rub it in later.” She announced as she passed by.

Without looking away from her locker, Darcy stuck out her hand to Abi and Em.

“Pay up.”

* * *

 

  Owen was the only one in the art studio that afternoon. He would’ve gone home to do his artwork, but his mother had a strict rule against painting at home. It wasn’t his fault that Millie had gotten into his paint set, but mom blamed him anyway when the little monster covered the whole living room hall in paint (the very expensive acrylics he had saved up for a month to buy).

He liked the pictures Ophelia left in his mailbox, and had spent the whole night sketching. Now, he was painting in one of his sketches of the castle garden. He had just finished the ivy when Wal came in rather anxiously.

“Dude! Did you hear?”

“About what?” Owen asked, his eyes fixed on the canvas.

“That Waltz kid, he’s going to the dance with Ophelia!”

Owen’s hand slipped, leaving a huge streak of green paint across the canvas. He cursed when he noticed what he did.

“Great, now I have to wait until it dries to paint it over.”

“Hey, Claude Monet, did you not just hear what I said? Ophelia’s going out with _Waltz_!”

Owen looked away as he took all his brushes to the sink to wash.

“So what, our friend’s going out on a date? Lots of friends go on dates, what’s the big deal?”

“It’s always a big deal when your friend is going out on a date after rejecting another friends offer.”

“It was a _friend_ date.”

“A friend date that she said no to.”

“Whatever, so she said yes to a date with the new kid. She probably did that just to be nice, you know how she rolls.”

“You don’t get it. Waltz didn’t ask Ophelia out, _Ophelia_ asked _Waltz_ out.”

He was quiet for a while, though he didn’t really notice how long that while was. After what felt like only a second to him he smiled.

“Like I said, what’s the big deal? She asked the new kid out, girls ask guys out all the time. That’s the twenty first century in action. If she’s happy with this guy, then I’m happy for them both.”

Maybe if he said that to himself enough times, it would actually be true.

 


	12. Rarest of Them All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophelia goes to the dance.

 

Ophelia came home late that night. She went with her friends to the mall after Track practice to find a dress for the dance. She would’ve gone in the dress Richard had given her, but that felt too weird for her to wear on their first (and hopefully only) date. She was about to open the door before she made an insightful headcount.

_Daddy’s home, crud!_

Maybe if she could sneak around to her room and put the dress away and then sneak back to the front door, he’d never know. She turned herself invisible and flew through the door and straight up the stairs to her room. Once she thought she was safe, she pulled the dress from her shopping bag and went to her wardrobe to hang it up.

“What, not going to say hello to your dad after a week in orbit?”

Ophelia let out a shriek and jumped into the air in her surprise. She saw her father standing in the doorway, giving her the all-knowing parental smirk.

“Seriously, honey, I’ve been sneaking in and out of bedrooms a lot longer than you have.”

Ophelia made a mocking gag noise.

“Gross! Rather not hear about you and Mom’s love life, thank you very much.”

Dad rolled his eyes. He walked over and grabbed the dress from the wardrobe to look at it.

“What a pretty dress, Ophelia, I bet it goes well with your complexion. I don’t see why you have to go sneaking through the house to hide it from me.”

He paused for a moment in mock thought before pretending to have one come to him.

“Oh, wait a moment, isn’t the Casper High Fall Formal this Saturday? What a strange coincidence that you bought a perfect dress for a dance just in time for the Formal.”

Ophelia started to lose her opacity while trying to find the words to best help her in this situation.

“It’s not really mine. You see, Abi kind of broke the bank on this dress and she’s planning on wearing to the school’s dance this weekend. – Is that a new shirt, it looks really nice- Anyway, she wanted me to hold onto it for her so her parents wouldn’t wig out. I said no, because I knew you’d think it was _my_ dress and that _I_ was going to the dance, which I’m not by the way, and I couldn’t exactly say I’m holding it for a friend, I mean, it’s the oldest excuse in the book. But she was begging me with that puppy-dog face of hers and so I caved. And that’s why I’m sneaking around hiding dresses, _not_ because I’m going to the dance with anyone.”

Ophelia flashed a nervous smile between her winded breaths. Dad just smiled and shook his head.

“You’re mother already told me about you’re secret admirer. I’m guessing the talk went  a little better than expected?”

Ophelia smile went away.

“Just for the record: would you have bought my story if she didn’t tell you?”

“Not in your life, kiddo.”

She let out a half sigh, half groan and pouted in defeat. She needed to work on her lying skills.

“So, who’s this date you don’t want me to hear about?”

“Waltz.” She mumbled.

“The ghost that visited you at the hospital?”

Ophelia nodded reluctantly.

“Hm, didn’t peg him as the poetic type.” Dad said with a shrug.

“Yeah, well neither did I. Turns out he’s both a poet _and_ a tremendous flirt.”

Dad’s expression changed, becoming more defensive than humorous. Ophelia blinked when she realized her mistake too little too late.

“Um, well, not really, he was actually a little more obtuse than flirtatious. I mean-“

Dad held up a hand to cut her off.

“Save it, Phé. You know I’ll have to talk to him anyway.”

“And by talk you mean threaten to beat him within an inch of his afterlife?”

“More like show him the surface of the sun.”

“ _Dad,_ it’s not even a real date. I set it up so he could leave me alone.”

“A ‘get off my back’ date? Ophelia, you know boys are like cats. You give them a little treat and they’ll keep coming back for more.”

“He promised-“

“Thinking you’ll like him and change your mind. Just let me talk to him before you go out with him and I’ll make sure he’ll never bother you again.”

Ophelia groaned, her defeated pout turning into an irritated on instead.

“Fine,” she groaned. “Go talk to him. Better yet, talk to every boy I have any contact with so I’ll be sure to die a virgin.”

Dad smiled as he gave her a hug.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, you won’t die a virgin. I’ll let you marry when you’re old enough, let’s say fifty?”

“Twenty-one, that’s how old you and mom were when you got married.”

He pulled away to look at Ophelia.

“Who told you that?”

“The date on the back of your wedding photo. Honestly, dad, I can read. And I can do simple arithmetic.”

“Thirty-four, and that’s my final offer.”

Ophelia smiled as she jumped up to hug him and kiss him on the cheek.

“Deal”

“Good, dinner’s in an hour. I’m making spaghetti and meatballs tonight while you’re mother eats dirt.”

“Top soil soy melt?”

“Still dirt to me.”

Ophelia smiled, She waited until Danny left the room and closed the door to say: “and I’ll be happy to date whomever I please until then.”

She shut the door of her wardrobe when something nudged at her leg. It was Cujo, holding a small wooden box in his mouth.

“Hey puppy, what’ve you got there?” Ophelia said as she plucked the box from his mouth. Cujo let out a whimper and nudged her again, as if trying to warn her about the box.

“Cool your jets, Cujo,” she assured the dog “it’s just a box.”

Ophelia inspected the box. It’s was made of a dark lacquered wood, decorated with intricate carvings of medieval dragons breathing fire. Rubies were embedded into the dragons eyes and silver claws acted as the clasp holding the box closed.

“Okay, it’s a very expensive looking box, but it’s a box nonetheless.”

She opened the box to find it filled with purple rose petals. She rolled her eyes and scoffed disgustedly.

“Ugh, Richard, I thought I said enough of this. Alright, where’s the stupid note this time.” She picked through the petals until she found a corner of the parchment at the bottom of the box.

“There you are, you stupid little thing.”

She pulled out the parchment by that corner. The petals spilled out onto the floor, along with something else that made a slight tinkling sound as it hit the floor. Ophelia processed the sound once she pulled the whole parchment out of the box. It sounded like it was made of metal. She bent down with the paper and box in one hand and groped the floor for the object for the other. She found the object shining from under a pile of petals. It was a ring, a gold ring embedded with emeralds. At the sight of the ring, the emeralds of her eyes dimmed to a diamond white. She was white as a sheet.

Everything in her hands dropped onto the ground. She backed away from the ring like it carried the Plague.

“What on earth was that!”

The parchment caught her attention again and she went over to pick it up. She read it.

 

_Lips as red as blood,_

_Hair as black as night,_

_Eyes greener than the Spring,_

_And flesh of pure snow white._

 

_I give you a ring of gold_

_So you can give me your delicate hand_

_Make me be your prince_

_And you shall have all that I command_

 

_I have given you flowers, given you jewels_

_Beauties so thine beauty can be in my thrall_

_Be my bride, and I shall have_

_The fairest of them all._

 

“I’m guessing he’s not going to wait twenty years.” She mused to herself in a distant voice.

Her hands were shaking; she could barely read the end of the letter. Cujo nudged her knee, for somehow she sunk to the floor, and whimpered at her visible distress. Ophelia blinked the green back into her eyes and the pink back into her cheeks. She went from shocked to angry in barely a second as her eyes burned a violent green. The hand holding the letter glowed the same green and the paper caught in fire. The parchment turned to ash before her eyes.

* * *

 

 “ _Richard!_ You whack-job!”

Richard was startled at the harsh voice from across the hall, and directed at him. He turned to find Ophelia standing right next to him, having flown straight through twenty feet of human traffic. Her eyes were ablaze in a rage he had somehow caused.

“Hello, Ophelia.” He said, finding no better words to say at that moment.

“What is wrong with you, I thought we had a deal. I would go out on a date and you would stop with your insane courtship rituals.”

“Excuse me?”

“You know _exactly_ what I’m talking about, you creep! In what world would I say yes to something like that?”

“Um…”

“I’m fourteen! No one ever agrees to that at my age unless they’re already pregnant, and that would already be an indicator of poor mental health.”

“Pregnant?”

“You’ve gone too far this time, Waltz. The date is off, I’ll be happy if I never see your arrogant face ever again you nutcase!”

Before he could say anything, she disappeared into the air. He watched the empty space for a moment before noticed the group of people giving him uncomfortable glares in his direction.

* * *

 

 “I thought you said she _wasn’t_ going to the dance.”

Danny and Sam were in the kitchen, drinking coffee and waiting for Ophelia to come down the stairs to leave for the dance.

“She’s not going to the dance _with Richard_ , sweetie.” Sam said as she stirred in some soy cream into her coffee. “She’s still going, just with her friends.”

“Not that I’m complaining here, in fact I’m overjoyed, but why did she decide to break off her date with that ghost kid?”

“She didn’t say.”

Danny had a knowing smile as he put the mug to his lips.

“Mmhmm, I thought so.” He took a sip of his coffee before continuing. “He must’ve asked too much from her and freaked her out. I warned her.”

Sam sighed and put down her mug before she could drink from it.

“You didn’t give the ‘boys are like cats’ speech, did you? I hate that speech.”

Danny shrugged.

“My dad used it on Jazz and nothing bad happened.”

“That’s because she’s Jazz. He could’ve forgotten to tell her to stay away from fire and she still would stay away from ovens.”

“Well, it looked like speech worked on her just the same.”

“All I know is that if my dad gave me that speech, we would’ve had Ophelia a lot earlier on.”

“EW! Can’t I walk into one room without hearing something that will scar me for life?”

At the doorway stood Ophelia, her ears covered to protect her from anything else she would’ve rather not known. She wore a red dress with black trimmings and long sleeves that stopped just at the knobby bones of her wrists. The skirt fell to her knees at the front but split and trailed behind her. Underneath she wore solid black tights and a pair of lace up boots with a dangerous set of four-inch heels. Any sense of the words “neat” and “clean” completely void in the arrangement of her hair as it spilled out in every direction from where it us tied up behind her head. A subtle shade of burgundy colored her lips and a dark grey around her eyes.

Sam smiled and walked over to Ophelia.

“Oh, baby, you look gorgeous.”

“She’s not wearing that.” Danny said curtly.

Ophelia groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Aw, come on Dad. My skirt is at an appropriate length, _and_ my legs are covered.” She pulled up her skirt and stuck out her leg for emphasis.

“Your whole back is exposed, I’m not letting my daughter go out and let every boy in her school know she doesn’t wear bras.”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed a pale green before disappearing completely.

“I can’t believe you just said ‘bra’”

“I can’t believe you’re wearing _that_ , so we’re about even. Didn’t you have a purple dress somewhere?”

Ophelia made herself visible.

“What dress?”

“The other dress you were hiding from me, I saw it in your wardrobe when we talked the other day. The old timey one with the long skirt and the covered back.”

Ophelia and Sam exchanged looks.

“Oh, Danny, _that_ dress?” Sam said with a dismissive hand gesture and a laugh. “That was just something my mother sent over for her. You don’t seriously want her to wear _that_ , do you?”

“And besides, I can’t find it anywhere. Cujo must’ve got a hold of it.”

“Sure he did.” Danny said with a knowing grin. “But I’m serious, you either cover up or go through the whole dance invisible.”

Ophelia groaned in defeat.

“Fine, I’ll go get a coat or something.” She grumbled.

She stomped up the stairs with her mother following after.

“Thanks for the save, Mom.” She whispered to Sam.

“No worries, hun. So where’d you put that dress? I think with a little reconstruction it might be decent for the Spring Fling.”

Ophelia stopped halfway up the stairs and raised a curious eyebrow.

“I really don’t know where it went, I thought you took it.”

“I guess Cujo really did take the dress.” Sam concluded.

Ophelia shrugged, “Maybe” _and maybe that’s where the box went too._

* * *

Ophelia went to the dance, in a group, with her living girlfriends and Trix. When they arrived, there was already a good amount of people there.

“Hey, weren’t there supposed to be chaperones for this thing?” Abi asked.

“Cool, this dance is so awesome that the chaperones disappeared.” Darcy said excitedly.

“No, they’re still here.” Ophelia replied, “The parents are a couple of wallflowers so they’re not going to be any problem, but Baxter’s the teacher chaperone. Just don’t say his name three times and we’ll be fine.”

Trix raised an eyebrow and leaned towards Ophelia.

“How did you know that?”

Ophelia’s wide eyes flashed.

“I-um…..have good eyes.” She said quickly. Trix cocked her head to the side. Before she could press further, Ophelia interjected.

“Hey, look, there are the guys.”

She pointed to the opposite side of the gym where Wal, Mick, and Owen stood by the concessions table.

“Why don’t we go say hi?” She picked up her skirt and rushed off to the boys before awaiting an answer from the girls. Right when she reached the center of the crowd, her head spun and she slowed down. Standing in the middle of a crowded room, the psyches of every person rushed to her like a bitter winter wind. It overwhelmed her senses worse than the blaring music and the blinding lights around her. She shut her eyes and shot her hands to her head.

 _It’s okay, Phé,_ She thought to herself, _You’ve been through this before, just shut it down._

She took a deep breath. And then, she tuned out all the psyches in the room, slowly tuning out all the psyches until she practically couldn't see them at all. A wave of relief rushed over her after the ordeal was over.

Ophelia felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find the hand belonging to Owen. He looked at her with concern.

“Hey Phé,” he greeted, “Are you alright? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Ophelia pulled her hands from her forehead and gave him a weak smile.

“I’m fine,” she said, “I guess the music must be a little too loud. I've had a bit of a migraine since this morning.”

Owen knitted his eyebrows in curiosity.

“Ghosts get migraines?” he asked.

“I don’t know about ghosts, but _half_ ghosts certainly do.” Ophelia said with a little ice in her voice.

“Uh yeah, right sorry – Hey, I love your dress.”

“Thanks, the girls helped me pick it out.”

“I can tell Abi didn’t pick it, it’s not pink enough.”

Ophelia giggled.

“And how about you, you look nice. Though you’re suit look’s like it was designed by Jackson Pollock.”

Owen looked down at his suit. He seemed to have just noticed the splatters of paint here and there on what was a nice plain black suit.

“Oh yeah, I came here earlier to work on my paintings… wait, you haven’t seen them yet, have you?”

“Your paintings?”

“Yeah, I did some based off the photos you gave me.”

“Oh yeah, the photos. Out of all this craziness, I must’ve forgotten.”

“Come on, I just finished this painting that you might like.”

Owen grabbed her wrist and led her out of the gym. The sound of their footfalls echoed down the halls, half-lit and empty as opposed to the brightness and congestion of bodies they were accustomed to. Finally, they reached the art room.

Owen placed Ophelia in the middle of the classroom.

“Okay, stand right here. Don’t move a muscle until I turn on the lights.”

Ophelia’s eyes twinkled curiously, them and her ethereal glow being the only light in the dark art studio. Owen rushed to the light switch with ease and flipped it on. With the lights now on, Ophelia could see that she was standing in a ring of Owen’s paintings. Ophelia’s lips parted slightly in silent awe.

“Owen, these are beautiful.” She said ecstatically, “It’s like I’m looking into a window to some kind of storybook world.”

Owen bashfully rubbed the back of his neck and smiled.

“Thanks, but you should really give credit to your photos. They were perfect references.”

“Oh please, those were amateur shots. It reflects your talent even more that you managed to make anything decent with those as a reference…”

She stopped her train of thought when she saw on particular painting. It depicted a large parchment of paper spread across a desk. With a quill and ink, flowers bloomed from a drawn out shrub. The flowers were purple roses.

Her eyes narrowed and shot an annoyed glare at Owen’s direction.

“Oh ha, ha, very funny.” She said sarcastically.

“What?”

“Abi or someone must’ve told you about my whole secret admirer thing and you painted this as a joke.”

“What secret admirer?”

“The one who sent me purple roses and cheesy love poems. It’s cute, nice to know you’ve got a sense of humor about these kind of things.”

Owen’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  
“I don’t have a single clue what you’re talking about, I just got the purple roses from the photo you gave me.”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed.

“What photo?”

Owen went over to a table by one of the other paintings and took a stack of photographs. He rifled through them while he made his way back to her.

“The one you took of that garden from a window. I was going to do a landscape, but I couldn’t quite do much with the angle… Ah, here it is.”

He handed her the photograph to look at. Lo and behold, there was a garden from what appeared to be a second story window. Most of the plants were out of focused or generally washed out from the bright light of the outside, leaving the purple roses clinging to the walls below in full view. The same kind of roses that were stuffed into her locker and whose petals filled the box that held the dreaded ring.

“W-what?” she murmured to herself, “This makes no sense, these can’t be my flowers? Why would Dora want to send me flowers?”

Her memory took her back to Dora’s palace, down in the dungeons. The guards lying on the ground with the cell door busted open.

_The Prince has escaped…._

A cold chill went over her body. It wasn’t until she saw the blue wisp escape from her mouth that she realized it was her ghost sense and snapped herself out of her trance. Owen eyebrows knitted together as he pointed at Ophelia’s mouth.

“Your ghost sense went off.” He stated.

“Please just be Poindexter, please just be Poindexter,” she said to no one in particular.

Just then, screams of panic trickled into the room. It seemed to have come from the gym.

“That doesn’t sound like Poindexter.”

Ophelia slouched her shoulder as she hung her head.

“It’s never Poindexter.” She said bitterly.

* * *

 

At the dance, everything went just fine. The music blared loudly as everyone dance to the earth-shattering beat. Those who weren’t were chattering in close proximity to the food or delving into the food themselves. The chaperones did appear once in a while to calm a ruckus and make sure the dances were as chaste as any could be with adolescents, Coach Baxter being the most frequent. All went perfectly well before the ghosts came.

A spray of arrows shot straight into every speaker set in the gym, killing the music with the machinery. A good amount of the kids screamed at the sudden explosion and huddled closely towards the center of the floor away from the showers of sparks. The culprit, a hooded archer, floated by the door with his bow loaded and himself poised for the next shot. The door flung open by the meaty hands of a ghost wearing the garb of an executioner. His skull-faced mask showed no emotion, but the axe propped on his shoulder held more menace than any expression could. The executioner ghost cleared the way for another ghost to appear. Unlike his friends, this one had no muscle tone whatsoever. All the bony angles of his face and body made him look like a skeleton with leathery blue skin stretched over it. His purple tunic and grey stockings may have fitted well on him, but his black and purple cape, fastened by a green skull, draped on him like a heavy curtain and emphasized his long and lanky figure. Hey grey hair drooped from his spiky green crown and sat at his shoulders. His eyes, the blood red eyes of a dangerous reptile, looked upon the living with contempt as a face unfamiliar to a smile gave a sullen scowl. Around his neck was an amulet with an emerald in shape of a reptilian eye. All the appearance of a prince with the arrogant air to match.

As the prince entered, the archer and the executioner cleared his away by scaring the living to the sides of the gym. After a few moments of scanning the crowd in dreadful silence, he spoke.

“I am in search of a girl that is somewhere here tonight. She is a halfbreed, the first of her kind and therefore the most rare of breeds. I know she is here, all I ask of you…commoners… is where is she hiding.”

Hushed whispers rippled across the crowd. They all know whom the ghost was asking for, and most were creatively filling in the gaps why he was asking for her. Coach Baxter stepped forward and glared at the prince as if he was one of his troublesome students.

“Listen here, your highness.” He said in a harsh and mocking tone, “I don’t know what you want with Fenton, and frankly I don’t care, but you don’t go barging into _my_ gym and terrorize _my_ students. So I suggest you take your spooky friends and shove off back into the Ghost Zone before I have to throw you in myself.”

The executioner ghost floated up to Baxter and slammed the axe right at his feet. Baxter screamed, completely losing both his macho act and all the respect he scared into his students in on fell swoop. The prince expression did not change.

“I shall ask again,” he said with a more threatening tone, “Where is the half ghost?”

“Who are you?” asked a voice from the other side of the gym. The crowd parted to reveal Ophelia Fenton as the owner of the voice. “And more importantly what do you want with me?”

The prince ghost smiled unkindly.

“Ah, there you are, my dear.” He lifted his long, bony hand and gesture for her to come to him, “Come, come, we have a lot of planning to do.”

Ophelia did not take a single step closer to him; instead she took a step backwards.

“Planning for what?” she asked.

“Why, for our wedding of course. Don’t tell me you have forgotten.”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed angrily.

“I’ve forgotten nothing, I’m not marrying anyone.”

His face hardened, his smile was gone. He looked like he was somehow going to hit her from all the way across the room.

“Is all of your kind so dull?” he said. “I _gave_ you a ring, did I not? And I had one of my servants write you all those notes. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten all the flowers and jewels I have given you.”

Somewhere in the crowd, Abi, Em, and Darcy were exchanging looks. Abi and Em were elbowing Darcy and sticking their hands out, silently demanding their money back. Darcy lifted her arms and shrugged.

“Hey,” she whispered, “we didn’t say anything about an unknown variable.”

Ophelia held her gaze as she crossed her arms.

“So that _was_ you, I wasn’t so sure since you didn’t even bother signing any of those letters. I did not agree to your proposal, and so I am _not_ marrying you.”

Too little, too late, she noticed that the other two weren’t at his side. The ghosts flanked her and grabbed her arms. She struggled as they dragged her through the crowd towards their prince.

“Marriage is not a choice _you_ can make, it is not something _you_ agree to. _I_ pick who I want to wed and she becomes my bride.”

They dragged Ophelia so close that her face was inches apart from his.

 “I pick my bride by rarity, I want that which no ghost has ever possessed. And you, my dear,” His hand went under her chin and moved her face side to side as if to inspect her. “You are quite the rarity indeed.”

Ophelia tucked her chin under his hand and bit him. He shrunk his hand back and the ghosts that held her pulled her away. With a lot of effort, she pulled at her arms until she had her hand pointed at the ghosts. She shot them both with ghost rays until they let her go. With another set of shots, she knocked the ghost to the walls.

“Let me say this again, so you can get it through your thick head.” She said to the slender ghost. “I’m. Not. Marrying. Anyone!”

He was still cringing at the bite while she spoke. Ophelia noticed that his amulet was starting to glow. She was confused until the hand turned black and the skin turned into scales. The hands became claws along with his feet. His arms and legs stretched out to large and muscular limbs and his neck became long and serpentine. Green horns sprouted from his head followed by the green barbs on his newly grown tail.

Ophelia knew what this thing was before the transformation was even complete. When she came out of her horror-induced paralysis, she turned back to her classmates.

“Run, idiots!” she shouted. They complied by filing out rushing out of the only exit not blocked by ghosts in a screaming panic. They made it out just in time, for when last of the students were safely out of the gym the ghost had completed his transformation.

Before Ophelia was the very same dragon she encountered in Dorathea’s castle. He barely fit the gym even with his wings tucked in. He large claws bored holes into the gym floor, of which Ophelia had a sinking feeling that Baxter was going to blame her for.

Ophelia backed away from the dragon with her hands glowing as a warning. The dragon lowered his head to her eye level.

“No one keeps Prince Aragon away from his bride,” he boomed at her, “especially not Aragon’s bride.”

She shot a ghost-ray at Aragon’s nose, causing him to bellow and pull his face away.

“Aragon, nice name,” Ophelia mused, “It’s always nice to finally have something to put a face to. You know, before I beat it into a new shape.”

Ophelia flew up to him with glowing fists. Right when she was going to swing a punch at him, something hit her from the side. Hard. She crashed landed on the ground; before she could even sit up, she was pinned to the ground by a net.

“No fair, that was a cheap shot!” She screeched.

“We have to time for this.” Bellowed the beast, “Give her the ring and get us back to the castle. We have to prepare her for her special day.”

The executioner took out a box, the wooden box Ophelia lost. He opened it to show the ring inside, now sitting on a velvet cushion. The archer took the ring from the box with one hand and fished Ophelia’s hand from the net with the other. Ophelia tried to pull her hand out of the ghosts grasp to no avail. The archer slipped the ring on her and it started to glow. The glow turned into a bright flash of light that encased the dragon, the executioner, the archer, and lastly Ophelia. When the flash was gone, so were they. 

* * *

“Get off me!”

A flock of handmaidens were trying to change her out of her dress and snap every one of her ribs with a corset.

“I said get off of me!”

She pushed them aside and raced for the door. Once she opened the door she found Aragon on the other side. His face got dangerously dark at the sight of her and glared at the handmaidens. He grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around towards the maids.

“How could you wenches almost let her walk around the castle like this?” He gave Ophelia a harsh shove and she stumbled back to the swarm of ghost women. “Protect her modesty and have her ready for the feast tonight.”

A maid slipped a robe over Ophelia before she could wrench herself from her grasp.

“I can dress myself, you know.” She growled.

“A princess should not have to dress herself like a commoner.”

“ _I am not a princess!_ ” she screeched.

“Not yet, no.” He said dryly, “but once you are properly attired, and taught a little civility, you shall be a princess worthy of Aragon.”

“Stop talking about yourself in the third person, it’s very annoying.”

There was a look in his eye that made Ophelia imagine the dragon form she had seen him in earlier. The handmaids, apparently having seen that look long enough to know what it meant, backed away from the two and cowered in the corner. Aragon grabbed Ophelia forcefully by her wrist and wrenched it towards him.

“A bride does _not_ give her prince commands.” He hissed at her.

Her eyes blazed a brilliant violet as she glared at him unflinching.

“I am not your bride, and _you_ are not my prince.” She said.

She pried her wrist from his hand and took a few steps away. She raised her newly freed hand to fire a ghost ray at the Prince. None came. She looked at her hand bewildered. She tried again to fire one, with no success. She glared back at Aragon with newfound vehemence.

“What did you do to my powers?” She demanded.

The deathly look in his eye was gone. He smiled a self-satisfied smile that made Ophelia want to hit him.

“A princess shouldn’t have something as _unladylike_ as ghost powers. She leaves the fighting for her prince and his knights.” He took her hand and showed her the ring on her finger. “ _This_ makes sure you aren’t tempted to use such _ugly_ abilities as a ghost ray, or intangibility. With this ring, you cannot go anywhere, do anything unless I wish it.”

He let go of her hand. She held it with the other hand and inspected the ring.  
“You really think you’re clever, don’t you?” she scoffed, “Please, I’ve had inhibitors latched on me since I was five, and they weren’t as gaudy as this thing either.”

“You shall learn to love it, you’ll be wearing it for eternity after all. ‘'Til death do we reunite’, _if_ you can die.”

“You’ll have to rip out my heart and my brain before I would even consider marrying you.”

He smiled amused.

“I should’ve have known, you’re just like your mother. Dinner’s in an hour, hopefully by then you will be properly dressed.”

His cape swished when he turned to leave the room. Ophelia followed him a couple steps.

“Wait, how do you know my mom?”

He did not answer her question, instead he said: “And don’t even try to get that ring off, only I can remove it.”

With that, he shut the door behind him. Ophelia just stared distantly, a million thoughts whizzing by.

_Who is this guy? How would he know my mother? Where’s Dora? How am I getting out of this?...._

In this dream-like state of thought, the maids got her into the dress without a fight. If Ophelia had paid attention, she would’ve noticed it was the same dress that was given to her at her house. The one she thought she had lost.

When they were finished working on her hair, another ghost came in. Ophelia did a double take at the sight of her. It took her a while to recognize the princess, having only seen her for a brief moment once before. Even then, Dora looked completely different than she had before. Her hair was braided rather than piled up, and a simple band was set on top instead of a crown. She fine silks and ermine had been replaced with the dull blue frock of a servant. Ophelia didn’t know why it was important, but she also noticed that the amulet the girl had once worn, identical to the one the Prince wears, was missing as well.

“Dora?” Ophelia said, surprised to see her.

Dora ignored her and instead turned to the handmaids.

“The Prince has sent me to see how his bride was doing.” She told them, “He would’ve come himself, but he assumed that he would find her sitting around naked from how poorly you seemed to have handled her.”

“Not to worry, milady,” one of the handmaids spoke, “she has been a quiet little angel. No fuss from her at all. We were just about to add a little cosmetic to her pretty little face when you came in.”

Dora looked over to Ophelia.

“Stand up, Ophelia, let me see you.”

Ophelia didn’t realize that she was sitting at a vanity table until Dora told her. She got up from her seat and walked over to her, trying not to trip over the long skirt or horribly uncomfortable shoes they had put on her.

“Look at her, she can barely walk.” She scolded, “That skirt needs to be cut down and she needs to be fitted for slippers she can actually _walk_ in. Here, let me take care of it. You are all dismissed.”

The maids gave an obedient bow before filing out of the room, leaving Dora alone with the half ghost. When the last of them left and the door was shut, Ophelia spoke.

“What are you doing here, Dora?” she asked in an exasperated speed, “Why are you working for a jerk like Aragon? Why’s a jerk like him the Prince? How does he know my mom? Please explain!”

“Not now, we need to get you ready or my brother will-“

“Your _brother_? Prince Aragon’s _your brother_! Oh my gosh, you poor thing. That sucks!”

“Don’t call me a poor thing, you’re the one who’s marrying him.” Dora said as she took a pair of sheers from a sowing basket. She pulled a small stool from under the bed and set it front of Ophelia. “Step on this, please.”

She took Ophelia’s hand and pulled her up to the stool. Ophelia wobbled as she tried to find her balance on such a small surface with such horrible shoes. Dora groaned.

“Take those things off. I can’t have you tripping all over the place.”

Ophelia pouted as she bent over to untie her bootlaces and pull them both off. She held them out in her hands and dumped them on the floor in front of her.

“Well, Aragon being your brother answers three of my questions. What about the fourth? How does he know my mother? How do _you_ know my mother?”

Dora went over to a wardrobe and took something Ophelia couldn’t see.

“What part of ‘not now’ do you not seem to understand? I have no time to explain anything. Here, put these on.”

Dora handed Ophelia a pair of shoes.

“Glass slippers” Ophelia stated as she inspected them. “How quaint.”

Without warning, without flinching, she threw the slippers out the window behind her.

“Make time to answer my questions, or I’ll waste yours.” 

* * *

The dining hall was filled with the castle’s nobility and their entertainment, none of who wanted to be there. The table was prepared and piled high with some of the most luxurious foods in the afterlife, which, for a party of beings that lost the necessity to eat centuries ago, served as nothing more than a decoration for the table and something to toy with on their plates. There was no rhyme or reason for anything in this scene other than it was the Prince’s wishes. The half-bored, half-scared eyes of the party lead to the solemn and brooding eyes of their Prince. He had an amused smile on his face that seemed completely displaced with such serious and skeletal features.

The monotony was broken when Aragon arose from his seat. He brought up his glass and knife and clinked his glass to get the room’s attention, as if they weren’t just sitting there waiting for the next command.

“My loyal subjects,” He announced, “I have brought you here tonight for a very special occasion. I am to be married, and tonight I wish to introduce my kingdom to its new queen. Bring forth my bride.”

The guards that stood vigil at the door opened them. Out of the doors came Dorothea, dragging the unfortunate bride to be by the wrist. Ophelia tried both to get out of Dora’s grasp and keep herself from tripping over every other step.  
“No,” Ophelia shouted to the ghost, “Let me go! I don’t want to have dinner with him!”

“No one wants to have dinner with him,” Dora grunted as she fought the half-ghost to move. “But it is what the Prince wants and so we do it.”  
“Screw the Prince! He’s a stalker creep. I’d rather spend the rest of my long life eating dirt than anything else with him.”

“Tough”

“Ah, there we are.” said Aragon at the sight of his captive. He looked over to Dora and commanded: “Bring the half-breed over here beside me, I won’t to make sure you haven’t made mistakes with this one.”  
_“the half-breed”, “this one”_ Ophelia repeated in her mind with disgust as Dora walked her over to the other side of the table with Aragon. He walked around her and inspected every inch of her. She felt like a dog at a show, the judge checking to see whether or not she was worth a ribbon.

“Excellent work, Dorothea,” he praised in monotone. He held her head with both his hands, positioning them far away from her teeth. “No ink on the face, minimal amount of cosmetic.” One of his hands combed through her hair, tied up and held in place by a silver diadem with a few tendrils tastefully hanging here and there. “Hair’s not a mess. And more importantly, no metal to be seen. Job well done, sister, perhaps you aren’t so useless after all.”

Ophelia was growling lowly the whole time, her eyes bright as hazard lights. She was not a big fan of people touching her in the first place, but to be completely manhandled like some kind of doll was way past her comfort zone.   
“Get off me, creep!” She said as she pushed him off.  Aragon caught himself from falling by the end of the table and the back of his chair. He bared his teeth angrily; his eyes flashed something heinous.

“I see her _behavior_ is still in need of improvement.” He growled to Dora, not even acknowledging that Ophelia as a being worthy of communication.

“I have a name, you know,” Ophelia dejected with crossed arms. “It would be nice of you to use it.”

He looked over to her and walked back over to her. He was so close to her face she had a hard time keep him within her eyes range of focus.

“You do not demand anything from me, _half-breed_ , no woman should demand anything from her husband.”

“What planet are you _on_?” she shouted at him, “A woman can _demand_ anything she wants from anyone. She is not some _thing_ that you can play with or give orders to. In fact, a woman can rule over _you_ just as easily, or have you forgotten how your sister ruled over the kingdom while you rotted in the dungeon.”

Several gasps were heard across the room. The fear in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife like any of the meats spread out in the table. Aragon looked ready to kill her, to take on his horrid draconic form and tear her throat out with his dagger fangs. Ophelia was horrified at the look in his eyes, but she refused to show it. She stared at him head on, not faltering the slightest. Somehow, his rage receded and was replaced by an amused smile. He breathed a laugh and patted her cheek playfully.   
“How amusing,” he said, “your mother must have filled your head with all that nonsense. You are quite fortunate that you are the only one of your kind, I don’t wish to damage my little rarity.” His fingers curled into a tight grip around her face. “At least, not before our wedding night.”

He pushed her back and she tripped into Dora’s arms.  
“Take her back to her chambers, Dorothea,” he demanded, “she’s too _hysterical_ to dine in company. Besides, I believe everyone here have seen enough of her for one evening.”

“Yes, brother.” Dora said as she herded the dumbstruck half-ghost out of the room. No one was going to ask any questions, none wanted to ruin a good thing by questioning it. 

* * *

“Okay, what in the Ghost Zone was _that_?” Ophelia asked while Dorothea prepared her for bed.

“ _That_ was my brother being generous.” Dora said sternly as she took out the last of the pins in Ophelia’s hair and removed the diadem. “At any other occasion, you would be fortunate enough to be dragged away to the dungeons.”

“Then why aren’t I?”

“Because you don’t keep the butterfly in the net where the wings get ruined, you keep it under glass for the whole world to see with the wings pinned down.”

She brushed Ophelia’s hair until it shone lunar glow.

“I don’t see any pins.” Ophelia retorted

“Then you aren’t looking hard enough.” Dora took Ophelia’s hand to show the ring on her finger.

“That is to make sure you won’t get out of your glass case and flutter away.”

Ophelia took her hand and tried to pull the ring off her finger.

“Tacky junk won’t come off.” She muttered. She bite down on the ring and tried to pull it off with her teeth. Dora took Ophelia’s hand out of her mouth.

“All that’s going to do is chip your teeth and give me a lashing from my brother. Nothing can remove the ring without the power from one of the Amulets of Aragon.”

Ophelia turned and looked directly at Dora.

“Amulets? That thing Aragon’s wearing? Didn’t you have something like that?”

Dora had a bitter look, like a child being reminded that they lost a game.  
“Yes, I did, but when he took the throne he hid it away. He thought a half-witted girl like me should not be trusted with all that power. He wasn’t going to repeat his mistakes.”  
Stared at the ring in deep thought.

“So, the only way to get this ring off is if someone wears either your amulet or Aragon’s?”

“Yes.”

Ophelia looked to the ground, the gears in her mind whirring and humming. Her eyes flashed and she smiled a dangerous smile.

“Dora, if there was a chance to get your amulet and return to the throne, would you take it.”

“I would take it in a heartbeat, had I still a heart that could beat.”

“Glad to hear. I’ve got a plan.” 

* * *

The Prince had been interrupted from his planning by his sister, Dorothea. She said his betrothed wished to see him in her chambers. It was important, she said. Whatever that half-breed had to say could not be more important than choosing which of his ermine robes to wear at the altar? With a growl of contempt, he made his way to the bedchambers of his bride. When he arrived, the girl was sitting on her bed hugging her knees. She was wearing her bedclothes. Dorothea should have dressed her more proper for an audience with the prince, he will have to scold her for this later.  
“Now, my dear,” he said in place of a greeting, “What is so important that you had to pull me from planning for my wedding? And why are you still in bedclothes? A princess should not receive anyone in such a provocative manner.”

The girl looked down at her gown in disbelief.

“Provocative? I’m more covered than this bed. In fact, I am better covered than I was in that get up you had me put in. The neckline was halfway down my chest.”

“I have no time for you to complain about your clothing. If this is all that you called me for-“

“No,” she said hastily as he tried to leave, “no, it isn’t. I really asked you over here to apologize for my behavior. It was…unladylike of me to yell at you like that, and I’m sorry.”  
“You should be sorry,” he snipped, “Talking to me like you were my equal.”

“I thought we were equals, since we are to be married and all.”

“And what part of it made you think you would be as important as a man, let alone a prince.”

The ghost girl’s eyes flashed an annoyed glare.  
“Yes, right,” she said with biting sarcasm, “how foolish of me to think I deserved to be treated like a human being.”

“You are only half human, so I don’t see why it matters.”

“Why do you even want to marry me if you think so little of me?”

“Are you dull or just deaf? I told you before: I want what no one else can possess. Any ghost could marry another ghost, and, by how times are in your living world, any ghost could attain a human bride. But no one could attain a natural born half-ghost, as there is only one in existence.”

“Me” She said flatly.  
“There we go, was that so hard to figure out?"

"Here's what I don't get, though: if you were just going to up and snatch me without bothering to give me a choice in the matter, why did you give me all that stuff to try to make me like you?"

Aragon rolled his eyes like she asked him something she should've already known.

"Because, it is traditional to bestow gifts upon the suited. You and your family needed to know of my wealth and status as a prince, to know that you will better off with me than you would be with them. It's a ridiculous ritual, _obviously_ you're better off with a prince than the common riffraff, but tradition is tradition and I must follow them all,”

 Ophelia’s eyes flashed in her anger.  
“Riffraff? If history is true, I believe those ‘riffraff’ saved the worlds of both the living and the dead.”   
“Any commoner can have his moment in the sun, that’s how we have knights after all.” His hand went to the side of her head and threaded through her hair. “The knighthood adds more value to the progeny, but deep down they are still peasants.”  
Ophelia pushed him away, shouting “Don’t touch me!” as Aragon fell to the ground.

Aragon sat up from his fall, rubbing the head he had apparently injured. He looked up at her with pure hatred. Ophelia gave him an equally aggressive stare, refusing to break in spite of the all real danger she put herself in. Aragon got up from the and grabbed her by the front of the dress.  
“A lady does not assault their betrothed!” He said.  
He raised his hand ready to strike her, Ophelia flinched in preparation of the blow. Fortunately, a knock came to the door.   
“Your Highness,” said the voice from the other side of the door. “Your sister, she’s escaped from the maids’ quarters. We cannot find her anywhere.”  
“After her amulet, no doubt.” Aragon muttered. Aloud, he said: “Send in the guards, make sure she does not make it to treasury. Do it now!”

He turned back to Ophelia, she could’ve sworn he looked disappointed. He pushed her back into the bed, she let out a small startled shriek.

“I’ll deal with you later.” He sneered.   
He slammed the door behind him as he left the room. Ophelia stared at the door and blinked in confusion. There was no one in the room to see her smile.

* * *

They finally spotted Dorothea halfway to the Treasury. She was at the door when the guards had finally caught up with her. An arrow from Aragon’s head archer stopped her from opening the door. Two of the guards grabbed her and pulled her away, she struggled in futility against them. The guards parted to let His Highness through. He had that smug little face Dora hated seeing ever since they were living children.  
“Dearest sister, what made you think you could succeed in such a venture?”  
“What you are doing is wrong, Aragon,” said Dora, “I was bringing his kingdom out of the Dark Ages and you decide to pull us all back in. You have no respect for other people and treat them like servants.”  
“But they are my servants, just like you.”  
“I am your sister! I am not you handmaid, and I will certainly not play handmaid to that girl!”

“You are simply jealous of me, Dorothea, that I have so much and the afterlife has given you so little.”  
“I’m jealous? You’ve always been jealous of me because Mother liked me best.”  
“Mother only pitied you because she knew no one would marry you.”  
“No, that’s the reason Mother paid any attention to you at all. And it was true. You died a lonely bachelor and even in the afterlife you are alone. I can see now why you have to abduct your brides to be, because there is no other way to have anyone of the female sex sit in the same room as you!”  
Silence fell upon the courtyard. Everyone held a wary eye on their Prince, terrified of what he might do. His blood red eyes were filled with unbound rage for his sister.  
“You do not talk to your prince in such a way, _wench_ ,” he hissed, “Must I remind you who has the power here?”  
A wave of gasps went across the crowd as the cleared the area for the terrifying form to come. But to the surprise of the court, and to the Prince himself, nothing happened. Dora smiled at the look of confusion on her brother’s face. Aragon looked down to inspect his amulet. His hand went to his shirt to find that there was nothing there.  
A whistle echoed across the courtyard, the people turned to a window high up in the turret. There in that window was Aragon’s bride, looking down at the crowd smugly.  
“Hey, Prince Charming,” said the ghost girl, “Looking for this?”   
She extended her arm out the window. Something in her hand glinted in the scarce light of the realm. Lo and behold, there in her hand was the symbol of power in their little kingdom: the Amulet of Aragon.

“You thieving little wretch!” cried the livid prince, “return my amulet at once!”  
“And I would listen to a pompous brat like you because…?” said Ophelia as she playfully spun the amulet around her finger.

“I am your prince and you will do as I say!”

“You are not my prince, you are not any prince, you are nothing but a spoiled, ill-tempered, misogynistic, ignorant- _whoops!”_   
The amulet flew off from her hand and fell to the crowd below her. To all’s misfortune, Aragon managed to catch it in his hand. Had anyone in the crowd a beating heart or veins full of blood, they would’ve gone pale at that very moment. Ophelia’s eyes dimmed as Aragon put his amulet back on. No one could hear her mumble a single word from high up in her tower: “Fail!”  
The crowd dispersed and ran inside the safety of the castle walls as their Prince resumed his monstrous form. He wings nearly scraped the walls surrounding the courtyard when he stretched them out. He took in deep breath, tendrils of smoke came out of his nostrils. Ophelia’s eyes widened, she could tell what was going to happen next. She ducked down beneath the window, barely missing the green inferno flowing through it by half a second and half an inch. When fire ceased for a moment, Ophelia got up and tried to charge her hand for a ghost ray. It was when nothing happened that she noticed the ring still on her finger.  
“And of course, I didn’t bother taking the ring off when I still had the amulet.” She muttered to herself, “ And the Darwin Award goes to…”  
A monstrous claw came in through the window and grabbed her. She let out a small squeak when the air was squeezed out of her lungs from the beast’s tight hold. She struggled as best she could to get out of Aragon’s grip while he pulled her out of the room and towards his red eyes to see her.  
“How dare you defy me, _half-breed_!” boomed the dragon at Ophelia. She cringed at how loud it was and how painful it was to her unprotected ears. “A lady does not defy her Prince _or_ her husband! A lady does what she is told and nothing more!”   
“Then I guess I’m not a lady.” Ophelia grunted as she tried to get her arms free.  
“Not yet,” he sneered, “but I am going to make you one. I’m going to make you one if it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to make you one _especially_ if it kills you.”

A flash of blue light hit Aragon at his side, sending him to the adjacent wall. Ophelia fell out of his claw. In about twenty feet, something caught her. She found herself clinging onto the green spines on blue scales. The creature stopped on a turret and turned her head to the girl.   
“You okay, dear?” said the blue dragon.  
“D-Dora?” Ophelia asked.  
“My brother’s tantrums make for a good distraction, and there are no locks in the dragon’s den.”  
Ophelia nodded in confirmation. She looked down and her grip tightened on the spine she was hanging from.

“What’s the matter, Ophelia?”  
“Nothing, it just donned on me that I nearly plummeted to my death. No wonder humans are afraid of heights.”  
“Get down!” Dora shouted as she flattened herself to the roof. Ophelia did the same against Dora’s back. She felt an intense heat go up her back, letting her know of the flames she narrowly dodged. When the fire stopped, she sat back up to see Aragon not too far away with smoke slithering out of the corner of his grinning mouth.   
Dora narrowed her eyes at her brother. She picked up Ophelia and put her down on the flat surface of the turret.   
“Stay here”  
“I can handle him,” Ophelia protested.  
“I’m not going to risk it. If something happens to you, your mother will never forgive me.”  
“But-“ Dora flew off before Ophelia could say anymore. Ophelia crossed her arms and pouted indignantly as she watched Dora charged at her brother.  
Dora swung a punch at Aragon that knocked him out of the sky.  He crash-landed into the forest, leaving a deep trench in the earth as he skid across. He got up on his four legs and sneered up and Dora.  
“Must you always fight so unfairly, Dorothea?” Aragon asked.  
“Says the guy who brought in two armed men and a magic talisman to fight an adolescent girl!” Ophelia shouted to him.  
“Silence, Half-breed!”   
“Stop calling me that!”  
Aragon ignored her and leaped back into the sky. Dora swerved away from him and flew low to the forest. Aragon took in a deep breath and blew fire at her. Dora managed to narrowly dodge the flames, with the forest left to suffer the blows.  
“Great,” Dora said, “just when the woods had recovered from the last time you set it on fire!”  
She went at top speed with horns extended in hopes to impale her brother. Aragon ducked under and grabbed her by her tail. After swinging her around a few times, he let go and she went flying into a castle wall. The vibrations of the impact moved all the way to the top of the turret where Ophelia was, knocking her flat on her butt.   
“Oof!”  
Dora scrambled out of the crater and made her way back into the air. The two dragons spat fire at the other. The flames collided in an explosion that reminded Ophelia of fireworks. The next moment, the dragons were locking horns and claws, trying to overpower the other.

“Give up, Dorothea,” said Aragon, “You can’t win. I am better fit to rule over this kingdom. I am the Prince, and you are just the servant girl.”  
“You are no Prince, you are nothing but a brat! You have been since we were alive, that’s why Mother and Father gave _me_ the kingdom and left me to entrust you! You have taken so much from me, put me and your people through so much suffering,” Dora quickly shot her claw to Aragon’s throat and tore off his amulet. “Now it is time I take back my kingdom.”  
Almost immediately after the amulet was removed, Aragon shrank down into his humanoid form and, having no wings to keep him afloat started plummeting to the ground.   
The entire kingdom cheered below. Dora flew down to the courtyard, transforming back into her original form before her feet touched the ground. The crowd bowed before their Princess, and she smiled. Dora held up Aragon’s amulet as a sign of victory which caused the crowd to return to their cheers.  
“Hey! Hello! Up here!” up on her turret, Ophelia shouted down to the ghosts with frantic waving arms. “I think it’s awesome that you got your kingdom back and took down your jerkface brother and all, but how about you GET ME DOWN FROM HERE! Oh, and GET THIS STUPID RING OFF ME!”

* * *

“So everything was going just fine when all of a sudden the speakers exploded. Then there were these two hulking ghosts with this scrawny little one. The scrawny one was asking for Fenton-“  
“Did he use her actual name?”  
“No, but he was asking for the ‘half-breed’ so it wasn’t hard to figure out who he was talking about.”  
“And then what happened?”

“Then I did my job and tried to protect the kids. Then Fenton bursts in like this was some kind of Old West movie. Then the scrawny one turned into this big dragon and they started to fight. The only thing I could do at that moment was herd the kids out of the gym and keep them out of danger. By the time I got everyone out, they were gone.”  
“That’s not what happened at all!”  
Darcy ducked under the caution tape covering the door, with Abi and Em following after her. She went up to Detective Gray and Coach Baxter with an accusing finger towards her teacher.  
“He gave them her name, acted tough for like two seconds, and as soon as one them brandished his big old axe he ran screaming out of the room,” She shot a judgmental glare at Baxter, “like a little girl.”  
Abi and Em finally caught up with her and came to her side.   
“I wouldn’t say ‘run off like a little girl’,” Abi said with a nervous laugh, “more like ‘going out to get help’.”  
“Thank you, de Fleur” said Baxter.  
“Yeah, help from his _mommy_ ,” Darcy scoffed.  
“ _Darcy!_ ”  
“What? I’m just telling the police what really happened. Any bit of information could help him get our friend back.”  
Before anyone could say another word, there was a flash of light in the middle of the gym. The light came from a ghost portal, of which the center of their argument came through.  
“I’m back!” She chirped.  
Abi bee-lined towards her friend before Em or Darcy could think of doing the same. Abi gave Ophelia a constricting hug.  
“Phé, you’re alright! I thought you were eaten by that dragon ghost thing.”  
“Don’t be stupid, Abi,” Darcy said when she caught up to them. “He wasn’t going to eat her, he said quite clearly that he was going to marry her.”  
“He didn’t marry you, did he?” Em asked with her sympathetic brown eyes.  
Ophelia held up her hand, completely void of a ring. “Nope, Ophelia Lilith Fenton is still on the market.”  
“Alright, settle down girls,” said Detective Gray as she made her way over without a single acknowledgement to Baxter. To Ophelia, she said, “You alright, Phé, what happened?”  
“Oh, you know, something from my parents’ family reared its ugly head and nearly killed me. The usual stuff.”  
“Mind coming to the station with me to give a full statement?”  
“Sure thing, do I have to give one in the Ghost Zone too?”   
“I’ll check with Dani when we get to the station, after I call your parents to let them know what’s going on. They’ve been worried sick about you, your dad was about to jump into the Ghost Zone after you. He was also rambling something about boys and cats, you have any idea what that means?”

Ophelia face-palmed while letting out an exasperated sigh. “Unfortunately yes, but it’s a long story.”  
Gray put her hand on her godchild’s shoulder and smiled.   
“You can tell me on the ride over.”  
They were heading for the door when Coach Baxter stopped them.   
“And where do you think you’re going, Fenton? We still need to figure out how you are going to fix my gym.”  
“The city’s set aside budget for any damages caused by ghost attacks,” said Gray, “Your gym will be fine. Now if you don’t mind, Dash, I’m leaving to the station and taking my goddaughter with me.”

* * *

 

 They made it to Valarie’s car when Ophelia’s ghost sense went off. She scanned the area to find a boy with strawberry blonde hair standing behind the caution tape.  
“Hey, Auntie Val, could you give me a minute?” Ophelia asked.  
“Sure, but don’t keep me waiting too long, I have to go through mountains of paper work just for _this_ side of the duo verse.”  
Ophelia gave a nod before walking off.  
“That’s a lovely dress.” He greeted her with.  
“Thanks,” she said with a nervous smile. She fixed her eyes to the ground and sighed before she continued.  
“…Listen, Richard, I’m really sorry that I yelled at you the other day. It’s just….you know those love letters I was getting?”  
“Yes”  
“Well….I thought they came from you. And…and I asked you out because then I thought you would stop sending them and….And you must think I’m really stupid, don’t you? I mean, of course you would never think of me that way-“  
Richard put a hand over Ophelia’s mouth.  
“Good lord, do you talk a lot.” He laughed, “I may not have gone out of my way to harass you with letters and trinkets.” He took his hand off her mouth and brushed away her bangs. He kissed her on the forehead and continued. “But I do fancy you, as I told you before, and I want to go on one of those date things with you.”  
Ophelia lost some of her opacity, making it impossible to see her in the dark night.  
“You-you like me?”  
“Of course I do, Ophelia. You’re the sweetest girl I’ve met. You go out of the way to make sure I adjusted to this modern world. You tolerated me and you’re an actual friend to me. Not to mention you have the most fantastic green eyes I’ve ever seen. So, this time I’ll ask you: will you go out with me?”  
Richard felt her hand slip into his and give a gentle squeeze. He wished he could see her face to tell if she was smiling.   
“Yes,” He heard her sweet voice say.   
He felt her kiss his cheek before the sound of footfalls towards the police car.

 


	13. The Feud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny gets in trouble with a neighbor.

Danny sat quietly as he pensively watched Richard sitting across from him.

“So, Richard Waltz,” Danny started, “That is your real name, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sir.” Richard responded plainly. “I mean, at least that’s what I hope it is. It’s really all I remember from when I was alive.”

“Mmhm,” Danny said, his cold blue eyes piercing into Richard like an icy dagger. “Why do you want to attend a human school? I’m sure the Ghost Zone has plenty of places to teach you what your lifetime had failed to do.”

“Yes, but it is no substitute for the real thing.  You see, Mr. Fenton, I never had the chance to have an education when I was alive. At least, from what I remember, nothing past grammar school. And the things I hear about modern schools caught my interest.”

  
“And what have you heard from modern schools? That there are pretty girls around every corner ripe for the picking?”

  
Richard’s eye widened. He shook his head fervently, so did he with his hands. 

“No, nothing like that!”

“Then what is it like? You tell me. From what I’ve seen, you have been flirting with my daughter, playing the obtuse ghost that needs to be taught how to function in the modern, living world, and then after what couldn’t be more than a week later, you’re on a date with her. That doesn’t sound like someone interested in a good education.”

“Please, Mr. Fenton, I really do care about her. I swear on my grave that I have no ill intents towards Ophelia. She is a kind, sweet, beautiful girl, and I consider myself the luckiest boy in the entire Ghost Zone to have someone like her in my afterlife. “

“I’m glad we’re on the same page.” Danny got up from his seat and walked over to him. A twinge of nervousness went across Richard as Danny loomed over him. Danny blinked and his eyes turned an ominous ghostly green.

“I am only going to say this once, so for your sake you better listen carefully. Ophelia is my one and only child, and I love her dearly. She has had things happen to her that would make one lose their faith in humanity, but despite that she managed to be a sweet, kind innocent child. As her father, it is my duty to protect her from anymore harm. If you take advantage of her, break her heart in any way, if _any_ harm falls upon her because of you, you will rue the day you died and left yourself with nothing to escape to. Are we at an understanding?”

Richard said nothing, he could only nod his head in agreement. Danny smiled and his eyes returned to a placid blue. He tussled Richard’s hair in a friendly manner.

“Nice to know we have an understanding, Waltz, I’m glad we had this time to talk.”

He walked over to the door behind Richard. 

“Your next date is tomorrow night, right? Bring her back home by eight and we’ll have no problems.”  
He opened the door to the vast space of the Ghost Zone.

“Until then, Waltz.”

“Yes, Mr. Fenton,” Waltz said hazily, “Until then.”

With that, Richard flew out of the room and into the Ghost Zone. Danny closed the door behind the boy and smiled. He walked across the room to the other door. He went through the door and into the second floor hallway of his house. He already made his way to the kitchen when the front door opened and foot falls were heard.

“Hey Dad, I’m home,” chimed Ophelia’s voice from the front door. “And I brought friends.”

Ophelia walked into the kitchen with her friends Darcy and Abi. Abi had on her cheerleading uniform with her pompoms poking out of her backpack, and Darcy and Ophelia wore their gym uniforms, covered in mud from the feet upwards and leaving a trail of it behind them. 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Danny protested, “No dirt in the house. Do you know how much work your mother makes me go through to keep these floors clean?”  
Ophelia lifted her feet and inspected the soles.

“Oops, sorry Dad, Coach Baxter made us run up that dirt trail in the park today.” Ophelia kicked off her shoes and held them in her hands. “And of course after the rain yesterday it isn’t exactly the cleanest track to run. Darcy, give me your shoes.”

Darcy rolled her eyes as she kicked off her shoes and handed them to Ophelia. Ophelia walked out and put the shoes out on the doorstep.

Danny propped his head up on his elbow, and gave a tired expression.

“Um, sweetie, did it ever occur to you to phase the dirt off?” He said.

“Nope, but at least I’ll know what to do in the future.”

“Hey, Mr. Fenton, do you have anything to eat?” Darcy asked.

“I’ll check, but I don’t think we anything aside from my wife’s rabbit food.”

“They’re vegetables, and I think there are some ice cream pops in the freezer.” Ophelia said as she reentered the room. 

“Then it’s all yours.”

“Yay” Abi said cheerily. 

As Ophelia went to the freezer and Darcy and Abi took their seats at the kitchen counter, Danny finally noticed something.

“Hey, aren’t there usually four of you girls?” Danny inquired. 

All three of the girls’ face dropped. 

“Yeah, well, Em’s not allowed to hang out with us anymore.” Darcy said.

“Why not, I thought you were all great friends.”

“It’s nothing, Dad, just drop it.” Ophelia said bitterly as she passed by him.

“Come on, Phé,” Abi said with a shove to the ghost girl’s shoulder, “Just tell him, he might be able to talk to her.”

Ophelia glared at her harshly as she unwrapped her ice cream. 

“Talk to who about what?” Danny said, annoyed with the lack of information he was given.

“Nothing!” Ophelia said sharply.

“Em’s mom doesn’t want her to hang out with us,” Abi said, “she thinks Ophelia’s too dangerous to be around.”

Danny looked over at Ophelia. Ophelia didn’t look in anyone’s direction as she sucked on her Ice cream pop.

“Ophelia? Dangerous? Why would she think that?”

Ophelia pulled the frozen treat out of her mouth with a _pop_.

“No reason,” Ophelia said sharply, “Just because I burned down the magic theatre, got the track field trashed, Em being drained to the point of anemia from a vampire, oh and let’s not forget the giant dragon ghost that destroyed the gym and nearly got everyone hurt.” With the last word, she shoved the ice cream into her mouth.

“She’s not seriously blaming you for that? None of that was your fault.”

_Pop  
_

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

_shove  
_

“Well too bad, we’re talking about it! I’m not letting someone keep my kid away from her friends because of something she didn’t do.” Danny looked over to Abi and Darcy, “You two, you can stay here,” he then turned to his daughter, “Ophelia, you’re coming with me.”

Ophelia’s eyes dimmed and she dropped the ice cream onto the table. 

“Dad, wait, no-“

Danny ignored her and headed to the front door. He went all the way across the street to the Yumes’ house when Ophelia finally caught up with him. 

“Dad, please, it’s fine, I still see her at school. She just can’t come over to our house. Please don’t make it into a big deal.”

Danny rang the doorbell. 

“I’m just going to have a little talk with Em’s parents. Honestly, what do you think is going to happen?”

He could see that Ophelia was about to say something, but the door opened before she could say a word. Behind the door was opened by a tall Asian woman who could be no more that forty years old. She had brown eyes and long black hair that hung over her shoulder.

“Hello, Mrs. Yume,” Danny greeted with a friendly smile. “I heard that you’ve been keeping Emelia from her friends. May I ask why?”

“I’m not keeping my kid away from her friends,” she said harshly, “Just your kid. And I think you already know my reasons.”

Danny’s smile faded.

“No, I actually don’t know the reason why.”

“Every time my kid is around yours, her life has been put in danger. I want to keep my Emelia alive, and I can’t do that when she’s hanging around with _her._ ”  
Ophelia looked away at the sight of Mrs. Yume’s accusing finger pointed in her direction.

“Hey, you can’t blame my kid for that, none of it was her fault.”

“Like nothing is ever yours?” 

“Excuse me?”

“Ever since you came back to this town, crime and property damage has sky-rocketed. You attract more trouble than you are worth. You go flying around in your cute little super hero suit while people like my husband have to clean up after your mess. Just because you saved the planet _one time,_ you think you have the right to create chaos.”

“Listen lady, I work as hard as anyone else to protect this town from ghost criminals and so has Ophelia. She is forced by human laws to fight _your_ battles instead of having a normal life. Maybe if humanity wasn’t so paranoid about us half-ghosts, my kid wouldn’t be such a health hazard to your kid.”

“Or maybe if you ghosts weren’t such trouble makers and stayed in your own damn dimension, we wouldn’t have to make laws to protect ourselves from the likes of _you!”  
_ Danny’s eyes flashed green.

“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! You’re actually stereotyping us based on the bad few your husband brings in to the station?”

“That’s not stereotyping, this is stereotyping: all ghosts are vengeful scum who have nothing better to do but terrorize the living to make themselves feel better about their own pitiful, wasted lives!”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed white and looked up to her father. Danny’s eyes beamed anger.

“I wanted to be civil with you in hopes Ophelia could get her friend back, but if this is the kind of hatred and ignorance you are exposing your kids to, then I don’t want _any_ of your family near mine.”

“Likewise, Phantom, now get off my property!”

Mrs. Yume slammed the door at his face. His anger fizzed like soda pop. The nerve of that woman! He turned to leave and saw Ophelia. In her eyes, there was a mixture of sadness and anger.

“ _Dad!_ ” she chided, “What on Earth was that!”

“Anthropocentric thinking at it’s worst.” He answered bitterly.  
Ophelia dropped her eyelids.

“You know when you asked what you think was going to happen? Well, _that_ was what I was thinking! You just alienated me from one of the only few friends I have here.”

“No worries, Ophelia,” Danny said as he led Ophelia back to their house, “If she’s anything like her mother she wasn’t a good friend to have.”

“But she’s _not_ like her, Dad, she doesn’t think that all ghosts are evil. Em couldn’t care less about my ghost half. “ 

“I’m really sorry, but there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

Ophelia stopped in the middle of the street, causing Danny to do the same. She turned around to look up to him. Her eyes flickered at him angrily. No, not anger, frustration.

“You don’t get it, Dad, this would’ve all blown over if I kept my distance long enough. Mrs. Yume would’ve gotten over it if I gave her enough space, but _no_ , you _had_ to go and confront her about it! Now we’re in a feud and I’ll never see my friend again!”

Danny could see that she was upset, but it wasn’t towards him. She was hurt over the whole situation. Once again, she was being punished for something she had no control over.   
He put his hand on her shoulder.

“I know how you’re feeling, Phé, and I am sorry, but I am not apologizing to that woman.”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed bright as a traffic light. 

“Fine! I hope you’re happy, we are now in a feud.”

She turned and stomped off to their house. Danny stood there for a moment. It was then that he finally felt eyes on him and realized Ophelia’s friends were still in the kitchen. He glared up to the kitchen window to find the two girls with their hands pressed against the glass looking through. As soon as they saw him looking back at them, they ducked under the window and out of his line of vision. Danny smiled. The girls must’ve watched the whole thing through the window. At least Ophelia didn’t have to explain too much too them.

* * *

“He didn’t bother talking to me about it first, he just went ahead and confronted her! Now I’m never aloud to see Em again!”

Ophelia had just told her story to Richard while they sat in the middle of a grassy knoll, a part of Richard’s realm in the Ghost Zone. The gentle breeze of swayed the tall grass to the ebbing rhythm of a sleeping ocean. He had his arm around her shoulder while she fiddled with a piece of the tall grass surrounding them.

“You weren’t aloud to see Em before.” He reminded her.

“Yeah, well, it’s official now.”

“You cannot exactly blame your father for that, he only had the best intentions.”

“There’s a whole road paved with the ‘best intentions’ and it doesn’t lead to anywhere fun.”

Ophelia fell back and lied down, hidden in the rustling yellow and green sea.

“To be honest, I’m not mad at him, I’m not even mad at Em’s mom, I’m mad at myself. Things like this happen to me over and over again, and I wonder each time why it happens. I shouldn’t even bother wondering when I know the answer: I am too different. No one knows what to do with me and it scares them. So they try to put me to good use, or just keep me out of sight. I try to be normal, I want so much to be normal, but it’s hard when you don’t know what borders between normal and different. As much as I try, I always end up upsetting someone and have to live with the consequences, and there are always consequences.”

Richard looked down at her.

“Must you blame yourself for everything.”

“Why not, I make a great scapegoat.”

“You’re not a scapegoat,” Richard brushed the snow-white locks from her purple eyes. “More like a sacrificial lamb.”

 “Thanks.” She said with bitter sarcasm. 

“Who cares what other people think of you? Who cares about anyone? You have a right to be who you are and you shouldn’t let people hold you back. You deserve to be happy along with the rest of us and hiding yourself in the dark will not make you happy.”

Ophelia looked away, her eyes reflected the unseen sun and the ebbing grass. 

“Knowing that I haven’t hurt someone makes me happy, knowing that no one’s dead because of me makes me happy, knowing that other people are happy makes me happy. If I use my powers, no one’s happy.”

“I’m guessing your weird sense of guilt involves your ghost-proof blood?”

Ophelia’s face showed no reaction, save for a pale flash across her eyes.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Alright, we won’t. Here,” He took her hand and stuck his other hand under her shoulder blade. He pulled her up and rested her head on his lap. “this is not a time or place to worry about all of life’s troubles, this is a place where you ignore them for a while. What kind of boyfriend am I to let you wallow in your misery for this long?”

Ophelia cast her eyes to the earth beneath them. 

“What kind of girlfriend am I to bother you with my problems.”

“A troubled one.”

At that moment, something happened. Their eyes met and a strange feeling came to her. She sat up and put a hand to the side of his face, he mirrored the action. Their faces were leaning closer and closer to each other and their eyes slowly closed. The next thing she knew, she felt his lips touch hers. 

Ophelia’s head buzzed, a tidal wave of information flooded her mind. She saw flashes, heard sounds, smelled scents, none of them were anything she had experienced before. It was all too much for her to take in at once, she was feeling sick.

Ophelia pulled away. Her eyes dimmed to a pale lilac with a wide stare at Richard. She was breathing heavily to soothe her overwhelmed senses, she guessed Richard thought she needed to breathe. He was about to pull her back when she stopped him, taking his hand from her face.

“I’ve got to go.”

She got up and brushed the dirt from her jeans. Richard looked on with a perplexed expression.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just fine.” She said in a hasty panic, “I-I just promised my dad that I’d be home early and whoa, look at the time, it’ll be dark soon.”

“Should I walk you back?”

“No, no, I’m good, I’m fine, peachy keen. You just stay here, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

Before Richard could protest, Ophelia scurried off to the gate at the bottom a little ways away and opened it into the Ghost Zone. She shut the door behind her and winced when she realized it was a slam. She leaned against the door and slid down to sit onto the little bit of rock below it. She took deep, even breaths to calm herself. She was completely shaken from the sensory overload. This was not what she expected from her first kiss.

* * *

  School the next day was the perfect storm of awkward. She was still shaken from their kiss the other night and so kept a platonic distance from Richard (she found even standing next to him for too long triggered some of the sensory overload). She couldn’t go near Em now that she was officially banned from going near her, Abi and Darcy were trying to avoid either of them terrified of taking sides. Mick kept the same distance because Abi was doing so. The only people left to hang around her was Wal and Owen, but she was just as scared of being around Owen as was with Richard so it only left Wal.

“Hey, why aren’t you tip toeing around me like everyone else?” Ophelia inquired.

“I guess I didn’t get the memo.” Wal said. “So you’ve managed to scare away our whole gang in less than twenty four hours? Maybe you should add alienation to your list of superpowers.”

“Or maybe you and Mick should add that to your collection of superheroes.” Ophelia retorted with a smirk. “It’s got to be better than Captain Confection.”

“Hey, being able to turn anything into sweets is a very useful power.”

“Oh yes, gingerbread men are very scary.” Ophelia laughed.

“Well excuse me if I can’t think of a superhero as extraordinary as Danny Phantom.”

“You’re excused. I have to admit that you can’t top a half-ghost, especially not one who saved both sides of the duoverse.”

“Your darn right, it is.”

They started laughing when Richard came over.

“What’s so funny?"

Ophelia waved it off as she calmed herself.

"It's nothing, no worries."

Richard wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. The kiss triggered some of the senses she felt from yesterday, coming in like an electrical shock.

"How are you feeling today?" He asked sincerely.

"Um, fine, thank you." She said nervously.

“Did you make it home on time last night?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I got home safe. Sorry if I worried you.”

“As long as you’re safe, I’m happy.”

He leaned in for another kiss when Ophelia spotted Owen coming their way. Ophelia quickly phased out of Richard’s arm and took a step to the side. 

“Hey Ophelia,” Owen greeted, “Hey Wal….uh, hey Richard. Do you know what’s up with everyone lately.”

“Ophelia started a feud.” Wal told him.

“I did not!” 

“Fine, Ophelia told her dad about Em’s mom and he started a feud. Now everyone’s avoiding each other so they won’t be forced to pick a side.”

“What, that’s insane!” Owen replied aghast, “You don’t hate Em, do you Phé?”

“I don’t, and neither does she hate me, but she’s terrified of her mother and my dad doesn’t exactly have her in his good books either at the moment.”

“That sucks! Does that mean we have to pick sides too?”

“Not necessarily, you can be with both of us if you want. No one has to pick sides over us.  The choice is yours, and Darcy’s, and Abi’s…for both her and Mick.”

Owen laughed.

“Poor Mick and that hopeless crush of his. I mean, everyone knows that he likes Abi, including Abi, he should just fess up to her about it. Let the chips fall as they may, you know?”  
Wal tried in vain to stifle a chuckle, Ophelia flashed a cautionary glance his way without the other two boys seeing it. 

“Perhaps he’s not aware of it himself, emotions are a confusing aspect of the human psyche.”

“Oh, he’s aware of it. He’s had this crush since the eighth grade, we guys talk about it all the time, don’t we Wal?”

“Yes, we do.”

Ophelia bit her lip.

“Well, maybe he’s just scared of what will happen if he asked her out. I mean, you guys have been friends since you were little kids, that’s a lot to jeopardize over a crush that might’ve just gone away on its own.”

“Well, what I’m saying is that he shouldn’t be scared to admit how he feels to a girl he likes. If he doesn’t do it soon, he’ll end up regretting it when someone else snatches her up.”  
Ophelia’s eyes dimmed. She cast them down to the ground.

“I guess you’re right.”

Yet another poorly covered laugh came from Wal’s direction. Ophelia glared at him annoyed. She kept her hand at a low, unnoticeable level as she pointed her finger towards Wal and stung him with a ghost ray.

Just when Wal made a protesting “Ow” the bell rang to warn inform them that class is about to start. 

“I got to get to class.” Owen said.

“Yeah, me too.” Wal said while rubbing the spot Ophelia shot him at.

They walked off to the directions of their classes When Owen stopped and looked back.

“You coming, Phé?”

“Nah, this is my free period. I’ll see you at lunch, okay?”

“Maybe.” He said jokingly and walked off. 

Ophelia turned around to open her locker.

“Okay, what was that?” Richard asked.

“What was what?” Ophelia said, her eyes stayed on the combination dial.

“That, that thing with your friends. What was that?”

Ophelia bit the corner of her lip. 

“Um…well, you know…. teenager stuff.”

“I don’t know teenager stuff, you’re suppose to teach me teenager stuff. That’s how our dynamic worked to begin with.”

“It’s….it’s like normal stuff except it involves teenagers so there’s more drama.”

“That still doesn’t explain to me what that was all about.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes and groaned.

“Okay, fine, Wal was laughing because…. Owen likes someone.”

Richard had a small look of surprise that turned into a smile.

“He does?”

“Yeah, but he’s not quite aware that he has a crush on this person, so please don’t mention it.”

“Well, who is this object of his unknown affections?”

Ophelia’s eyes widened and flashed a pale green, though lucky for her Richard couldn’t see this reaction. 

“You wouldn’t know her, she’s…a friend of his.” She opened her locker. “Look, I don’t want to talk about this. He’s not aware of his emotions, and so doing anything about this crush would be too risky.”

“’Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all’ there’s a reason why they say that.”

“To make themselves feel better about getting their heart broken?”

“Because the pain of regret is a lot worse than the pain of rejection.”

Ophelia said nothing as she finished sorting through her locker and backpack.

“It’s too late now. She’s already with someone.” And with that, she slammed her locker shut.

* * *

 

 Ophelia was the first out of class and into the cafeteria. She bought her lunch and read quietly in wait for her friends to fill the empty seats of their lunch table. 

“Mind if I sit with you?” 

Ophelia looked up. To her surprise, Em stood in front of her with her own tray of food.

“Um, sure, of course, go ahead.” She stammered.

Em took her seat across from Ophelia.

“I’m sorry for my mom the other day.”

“I’m sorry for my dad the other day.”

“Why are you sorry? My mom was the one who called you guys degenerates.”

“She called ghosts degenerates, so technically we’re somewhere in between.”

“I swear, she’s not always like this. It’s just that my dad has been hospitalized for the fifth time in six months and then there were all those ghost attacks at school and-“

“Em, don’t worry about it I completely understand. I don’t exactly condone her behavior, but I understand why she acts like that. And I’m not holding anything against you, I know you don’t think like that.”

A smile cracked into the corner of Em’s mouth. 

“Thanks, Phé. You know, just because we can’t go to each other’s houses doesn’t mean we can’t hang out with each other at school.”

“ _EMELIA ASAMI YUME!_ ”

“But this probably will.”

The two girls turned to see the source of the voice. Mrs. Yume stood in the cafeteria doorway. Ophelia had never seen a human being look so angry in her life. Mrs. Yume walked up to the girls and grabbed Em by the arm.

“You forgot your gym clothes, Emelia.” She threw the wad of red and white clothes on the table, away from the girls’ food. “ _I cannot believe you! I told you to stay away from that mutt and now I catch you sitting in the same table! I expected this kind of thing from your father, but you?”  
_

_“But Mom, she’s my friend-“  
_

_“She is no friend of yours! She’ll get you killed! Her whole family is nothing but fanatics and mutants!”  
_

_“Don’t talk about my family like that!”_ Ophelia shouted.

Both Em and Mrs. Yume looked at her like she grew a second head. 

“What did you say?” Mrs. Yume asked.

“I said don’t talk about my family like that. Just because you’re scared for your family doesn’t mean it makes it okay to take it out on mine. We have done nothing to you but try to be good neighbors and friends while you blame us for the misdeeds of others. I’m sorry that Mr. Yume’s hurt, and I’m sorry that Em had been put in risky situations in the past couple of months, I really am, but _do not_ call me a mutt!”

Mrs. Yume narrowed her eyes at Ophelia. She turned to Em and said: “We’ll talk about this at home.” And then left the room. Em’s brown eyes were little dots in the shock of the ordeal.  Ophelia bit her lip.

“I guess that didn’t help at all.” Ophelia grumbled.

Em eyes went from the door and to Ophelia. Ophelia lost some of her opacity from such and unnerving glare.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you spoke Japanese?” Em asked.

“Uh, ‘cause I don’t.” Ophelia said.

“Yes you did, just now, you spoke Japanese.”

Ophelia’s eyes flickered. She was very confused.

“What are you talking about? I was speaking English, so were you.”

“No, I wasn’t, neither was my mother. She was yelling in Japanese, and _you_ understood it.”

“No, I didn’t. I can’t speak Japanese, I can only speak English. I only _know English!_ ”

_“You sure you can only speak English?”_

_“Yes, I can only speak English!”  
_

Em smiled.

“That wasn’t English, Ophelia, you just spoke Japanese again.”

Ophelia slapped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes went pale, flicking and darting around as she tried to understand what was happening.

“Ophelia, could it be possible that this is another power of yours?”

Ophelia’s eyes widened. Her hands shot to Em’s and held them in a death grip.

“This never happened, I can only speak English. I don’t know any other language. Please, Em, don’t tell anyone about this.”

“Okay, okay, this never happened, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Promise me, Em, promise me you won’t tell anyone.”

“I promise.”

Ophelia phased through the table and gave Em a hug.

“Thank you so much, you have no idea what this means to me.”

“No problem” Em choked out, “Now please let go, you’re crushing me.”

“Oh, sorry”

* * *

  After a stressful day like today, Ophelia would sneak out of the house and spend the whole night flying. And flying is what she did. Through the clouds and amongst the stars. She even zigzagged around tall buildings at top speed if she felt daring (thus starting the Fenton’s “in case Ophelia smashes through another building” budget).  She was floating in the clouds. She liked how the condensation collected on her skin as droplets of water, slowly but surely soaking herself through. The water reminded her that she was still a tangible, existing being while the dense mist made her forget the rest of the existential plane. Oh, how simple it was when she felt she was the only one in the world. But she knew she’ll eventually have to come down to the living world, being a tired, cold, and damp girl alone in a sleeping town.

Her moment of meditation ended when a familiar chill hiccupped across her body. She opened her eyes to see a familiar blue wisp escape her mouth. She shrugged it off and lied back into a lounging position.

“Probably just someone passing through,” Ophelia thought aloud, “If not, it’s not my problem.”

The next moment, there were flashes of light in the clouds. An area close to her was cut through with a laser. Ophelia formed a ghost shield around herself to prevent friendly fire. She waved it off within the safety of her ecto-bubble.

“Just a few missed shots, still not my problem.”

Through the little hole in the clouds were the shot was made, something came through. It was a portly little thing, where a grey dock worker’s uniform. Ophelia let out an exasperated groan when she recognized the ghostly nuisance.

“Okay, now it’s my problem.” She said to herself, “But he’s definitely not worth the effort.”

“Foolish humans, your puny weaponry is no match for me!”

“Hey, Box Ghost!”

The pathetic specter turned his head to her. If a ghost could turn pale, he was certainly doing it now.

“Look, dude, it’s been a long day, I’m tired, I’m stressed, and I don’t want to deal with your stupidity tonight. So how about we skip the part where I beat you to a pulp and you can just turn yourself in to the police. Okay?”

The Box Ghost blinked, she can she the cogs in his mind trying to work out her simple demand. After a few minutes, he raised his hands to the side of his head and waved them. 

“Beware!” he shouted before darting back down to earth. 

Ophelia rolled her eyes aggravated. 

“Oh, for the love of – Why can’t that guy ever do things the easy way!”

She shot back down to earth like a bullet out of a gun. It didn’t take long to catch up with the blue nuisance. As soon as he caught sight of her gaining on him, he started picking up the speed.

“He may not be much of a threat, scratch that, he may not be _any_ kind of threat,  but the guy sure can fly fast.”

He was pulling out all the tricks to escape her tonight. He weaved around buildings, flung any and every box at her that he could find on the street (including the mailboxes), he even shot a few ghost rays at her, but all attempts only managed to slow her down a little.

“Come on, dude,” Ophelia called out to him,  “You’re just tiring yourself out by doing this.”

They soon made their way to the park, where he used the trees as his means to shake her off.

“You really think a bunch of trees will help you get away from me-“

Just when she said that, she came out of the thicket of trees and rammed straight into the park fountain. Water spewed out like a geyser. Just when she was dried out from being up from the clouds, she was thoroughly soaked by the fountain (or at least the pile of rubble that was the fountain). 

Ophelia rubbed her head, which throbbed horribly from hitting the fountain first. She was grateful to find that she was not bleeding and, as far as she could tell, had no concussion. 

“That was extremely lucky,” she murmured to herself.

The Box Ghost floated above her, prepared for his ever so annoying rants.

“Haha, foolish ghost-child, you cannot capture me. I am the Box Ghost!”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed through her dripping wet hair.

 “For Pete’s sake,” Ophelia shouted at him, “I already have a headache thanks to you, no need to add another one!”

 She raised a glowing hand to open a portal behind him. She shot him into the portal right when he was shouting another “Beware!” and the portal closed behind him. Ophelia fell back into the basin of the fountain with a loud splash that nearly irritated her headache further. She stayed there for a few minutes, letting the cold water ease her aching head before a bright light was shined in her direction. 

Ophelia sat up and the light flashed directly and painfully into her eyes.  The light was far too bright for her eyes to adjust, so she could not see the holder of the light. But her insight immediately recognized the person’s psyche and it made her nervous.

“Oh, um, hello, Officer Yume, fancy seeing you here. How’s your arm?”

“Fine, Ms. Fenton. Care to explain why you’re sitting in the middle of the rubble that once was the park fountain?”

“Sure, but could you not shine that light in my face, I’ve got a migraine coming on.”

Officer Yume aimed the flashlight away from her face. Her eyes blinked, her pupils dilated in response to the lack of light. 

“Now, why did you destroy the fountain?”

“Could you please whisper? And I didn’t mean to destroy the fountain. I saw you guys were after the Box Ghost, and you know how the Bystander Contract makes me help you when I’m involved in some way (and technically dodging your shots makes me involved).  So I chased him to the park but I couldn’t hit the brakes in time, so I, uh, kind of crashed into the fountain.”

Ophelia ended her story with a nervous laugh. She rubbed the back of her head partly because of the headache, partly because of the stress of the situation. 

“So then, where’s the Box Ghost?”

“He’s with the GZPD, I knocked him into a portal.”

“So you have nothing to validate your story? You do know that destruction of public property is a crime?”

“Go ahead and put it on my tab.” 

* * *

Ophelia’s head felt like it was going to split in two at the sound of the cell door slamming shut. 

“Are you kidding me!” Ophelia screeched despite her headache.

“I told you that destruction of property was a crime.” Said Officer Yume

“Yeah, which you send me home and we have to pay for the damages. You do not lock me up in a cage with a stupid cuff on me!”

“This is how we treat everyone who breaks the law, don’t think you’re special because your godmother is captain of the precinct.”

“I don’t think I’m special because of Auntie Val, I think I’m special because I’m the only minor legally obligated to fight crime with the police. That same obligation absolves me from sitting in a jail cell because I _did your stinking job for you!_ ”

“I can see why my wife wanted to keep you away from Emelia.”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed.

“Please, tell me I’m wrong, but does this have anything to do with that dispute my dad had with Mrs. Yume?”

“Of course not, that would be completely unethical of me to arrest someone because of a personal issue.”

“It _does_ , doesn’t it.”

“I am calling your parents so they know where you are. With any luck, you won’t spend the whole night here.”

Officer Yume walked away. Ophelia kicked the bars in her frustration, causing the whole structure to shake. 

“You are _so_ lucky Auntie Val is off tonight!” She shouted.  “And you could’ve _at least_ given me a towel to _dry off_!” 

* * *

  “I can’t believe Mr. Yume locked you up.” 

Abi and Darcy met up with Ophelia the next morning after her night in jail. 

“It’s fine, really. I was only in there for like two hours. What was worse was when my dad picked me up. I swear, I thought he was going to knock him out then and there.”

“This feud thing is getting way out of hand.” Darcy said.

“I know, Dad said he was going to get Mr. Yume fired, that he was going to sue him for locking me up. I don’t want that.”

“How do you think Em is going to take this?” Abi asked, “What if she makes us take sides! I don’t wanna take sides, we just got our whole group set up!”

“Ophelia!”

Abi flinched at the sound of Em’s voice. Ophelia looked over to Em on her blades rolling herself over.

“I heard about what happened last night, I’m sorry. My dad finally heard word from the GZ prison after you and your dad left. They confirmed your claim about the Box Ghost, and so did the officers that were initially chasing after him. They saw a flash of light dart out of the clouds after him, I’m guessing that was you?”

“Yeah, it was.”

“My dad’s so sorry about last night. He just got transferred into the 13th precinct before his injury, he didn’t know the protocol for you and your dad. He thought he had no choice but to take you in-“

Ophelia raised her hand.

“Just forget it, please. I want to forget about it.”

“Please, Phé, he’s not like my mom, he doesn’t have any prejudice against ghosts. He actually likes them a lot, even if a lot of his injuries are from him getting caught in the crossfire of GHCU.”

“I said forget it, alright!”

“I’m just trying to apologize-“

“I forgive you! I forgive him! Okay, just please drop it!”

Ophelia stomped off, too upset to deal with anything. Em watched her leave, wide eyed in confusion.

“What’s up with her?”

Abi leaned on Em’s shoulder and shook her head.

“Prison, man, it changes people.”

* * *

 Sam knocked on the Yume’s door. Mrs. Yume answered the door, her eyes narrowed at Sam.

“Hello, Helen,” Sam said sweetly.

“What do you want, Fenton, you here to serve my husband with that lawsuit your husband was screaming about?”

“Actually, I’m here to apologize for my husband’s behavior. You see, we used to live in a couple of towns that did not accept ghosts like Amity did. In fact, one of them accused me of being a witch, believe it or not.” Sam laughed to lighten the mood, but Mrs. Yume was having none of it. Sam cleared her throat and continued.

“But you see, he gets sensitive to any anti-ghost stuff. So he kind of overreacted, and I’m sorry for that. But you have been overreacting too, you have to admit.”

“So? Your daughter had her outburst too. You should’ve heard he tantrum she had when she was in the holding cell.”

“That’s understandable, she’s only a child after all. But we’re full grown adults, we’re suppose to set a good example for our kids, but instead we’ve been making them miserable over our petty arguing. How about we make amends and be done with this feud, for our daughters’ sakes.” Sam stuck out her hand. Mrs. Yume stared at it, he arms folded. “We don’t have to like each other, we just have to tolerate each other enough to have our kids over.”

Mrs. Yume unfolded her arms and used her finger to lower Sam’s hand.

“I am not having my daughter play with your ecto-mutt of a daughter. She’s a privileged, spoiled brat that destroys half the town. I had my husband arrest your kid in hopes that she would learn to behave, but all it did was show the whole precinct how much of a brat she is.”

Sam scowled.

“So you’re saying you had your husband arrest my daughter because she’s half ghost?”

“No, I had her arrested because she’s a horrible ghost brat.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

Sam put a hand to her ear and pulled out her earring, a silver and green earring that looked a lot like a communication piece. Mrs. Yume’s eyes widened.

“Here’s how it’s going to go, Helen, we are ending the feud, our daughters are going to be friends again, we are allowing them to go to each other’s houses, and _you_ are not going to call my baby a mutt or I will take this confession in and charge both you and your husband with a hate crime.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I certainly would.”

Helen and Sam just stared each other, seeing who would crack first. Without breaking her stare, Mrs. Yume said.

“Your house or mine?”

“How about yours first, and maybe we can invite you all over to dinner on Saturday. I’ll cook some meat for you guys.”

“Fine, but I’m bringing a dessert.”

“Deal.”

“Deal.”

With that, Mrs. Yume closed the door. Sam smiled and put the Fenton-phones in her pocket. She walked back to her house with a spring in her step. Danny was at the doorway when she came in.

“And that’s how you end a feud.” Sam said smugly.

“Hmm, blackmail,” Danny said sardonically, “who knew?”  



	14. Heart of Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophelia finds a problem in her relationship.

Ophelia didn’t think those things she heard about being in a relationship was true until she was with Richard. They have been dating for over a month now, and they were the happiest weeks she ever remembered having. She wanted him to be by her side, and there he was. She wanted someone to talk to, and so he listened. She wanted someone that she felt safe with, and that is how he made her felt. She wanted someone who she knew would be safe near her, who better than someone who’s already dead? Everything that she would ever want in a boyfriend, he was just that. It was as if he was made for her.

  
She was starting to adjust to the kissing, too, just a little. After a few more times, she managed to handle and process the bits of his psyche that would flood in. They became whole memories, thoughts, dreams, things that she assumed had happened when he was alive, things that she couldn’t tell he was fully aware of. It was in those moments of looking over the bits and pieces that were the very essence of her main squeeze that the small, dark cloud hovered across the golden horizon that was her love life: the guilt of knowing too much. What if she accidentally said something about what she saw? How was she to explain how she had learn that? How can she explain her insight, a thing, like many things about herself, that she has tried so long and so hard to keep anyone from knowing, even her parents? Which led her to another, equally great fear: what if she ends up telling too much about herself?

Those fears swam across her mind when she was away from him. But then, somehow, when she was near him, those fears were extinguished like a flame, and she wanted to do nothing but be with him.

Right now, they were in the park. Ophelia had her head on his lap and he was stroking her hair. 

“What are you thinking of?” Richard asked.

Ophelia smiled and looked up at him.

“Oh, just that I’m lucky to have you.”

“That is exactly what I was thinking. Methinks our minds doth fall in sync.”

“Methinks you need more tutoring sessions.”

He bent down and kissed her. He pulled away and combed his fingers through her hair.

“You are the most beautiful creature in the world. You should let other people see that.”

“Why? The only people that matter already know.”

“How do you know who matter and who don’t at a glance? And how are people suppose to know and love the real you if you hide yourself away?”

“I let myself show to those I can trust.”

“And how do you know that they can be trusted?”

Ophelia eyes flashed as she gave a knowing smile.

“I can just see it.”

His ran his fingers through her hair and leaned in for another kiss.

“Looks can be deceiving.” He breathed when he pulled away.

* * *

 

 “So, Ophelia, where’s Richard?”

Ophelia came out of her dream-like state. She then remembered that she was hanging out with Owen in the art room. 

“Hmm? Oh, he had to stay in to make up a history test.”

“Weren’t you tutoring him in History?” He said as he applied another stroke of paint to his canvas.

“I am, but-“

“Don’t move!”

“Whoops.”

She then remembered that she was modeling for his painting while she waited for Richard.

“For a girl who’s technically half dead, you sure move a lot.”

“For a boy who spends most of his time painting, you sure do it _slowly_.”

“Painting takes a lot of time, a lot of focus. You can’t simply push a button and stick it on a frame.”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed playfully.

“Are you belittling my medium, Mr. Dodgeson?”

Owen looked up to the ceiling innocently. 

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You better not.” She said in a joking mutter.

Owen smiled at her before going back to his painting.

“You know, this is probably the first time we’ve hung out together since you started going out with Waltz.”

Ophelia raised an eyebrow.

“No, really? That couldn’t be right.”

“It is, in fact I don’t think anyone has seen much of you lately. You’re always with Richard, I was starting to think you forgot you had a life outside of him at all.”

“I’m not always with Richard.” She defended. 

“Right, I forgot about those ever small windows where he flunks a test or you’re home asleep, but none of those are you with your friends.”

Ophelia glared at him with smoldering eyes.

“Jeez, aggressive much?”

“You would be too if you were losing your friend.”

“No one’s lost anyone, Owen. So what if I forgot to talk to some people for a few days, it doesn’t mean I haven’t completely lost touch with the outside world.”

“Oh really, did you know that Darcy met with a breeder for Baskerville? Or that Mick and Wal published one of their comics on the web? Do you even know that Em broke her wrist blading yesterday?”

Ophelia’s eyes went wide.

“Em broke her wrist!?”

“That’s exactly my point, Ophelia, you have completely disappeared. We’ve lost you to Waltz.”

“Well, I’m sorry, forgive me if I thought about my own happiness first for once in my life! After all this time doing everything for you guys, you think you would _at least_ be happy for me and Richard!”

“I am happy for you! I’m just saying we can both be happy without you being around Richard all the time.”

Both turned to the door when they heard a knock. Richard stood in the threshold with his knuckles to the frame.

“Am I interrupting something?” Richard said innocently.

Owen dropped his brush into a cup of water, causing the water to splash and spill over.

“No, we were just finishing up. Go ahead and take her.”

Confusion sprawled across Richard’s face, completely oblivious to any reason for Owen’s foul mood. He soon shrugged it off and turned to Ophelia.

“You ready to go, dearest?”

“Sure thing, Richard.” Ophelia scampered off of the little platform Owen had put her on and straight to Richard. She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“How was the make up test?”

“I think it went well, more than I can say for him. What happened here?”

Ophelia turned back to Owen. He was putting away his paint set and taking his cup of brushes to the sink for a thorough cleaning.

“Nothing, nothing happened. Let’s go.”

Richard smiled. He took her hand and led her away. Ophelia looked back to the classroom. She couldn’t help but feel guilty for what she had said to Owen, she didn’t mean to get him upset. Perhaps she’ll apologize to him tomorrow, if he’d still talk to her, that is. 

* * *

“Cujo, come back here!”

Once again, Cujo had escaped his leash and is running rampant across town. And like every time he runs off, Ophelia was the one who had to chase after him before he could cause significant damage. He made his way to the park when she started gaining on him. She pounced and grabbed him and they both rolled into the bushes. While Ophelia was still flat on the ground, Cujo stood on top of her and suffocated her in affectionate slobber.

“Come on, Cujo, stop it.” Ophelia giggled. Cujo made a playful _yip_ before he jumped off her and ran off again. Ophelia picked herself off the ground and headed in the same direction he went off to.

“If you weren’t the cutest little devil, you would be in the ghost pound by now.” Ophelia said with a laugh. 

She went through the bushes until a faint light came to her eyes. She saw the light was from one of the many street lamps that lined the concrete path of the park. Underneath the light she saw a bench with two people entangled in each other's embrace. She turned invisible, embarrassed by spying on such an intimate moment. She saw Cujo scampered in front of the couple, sitting up in his eager “play with me” position. He let out a single bark that startled the couple. They pulled away from each other, the sight of the boy made Ophelia’s heart shatter.

It was Richard… her Richard…. her Richard… was in the park at nighttime…. kissing another girl.

She shot her hand to her mouth. She had a desperate need to breath, but the air choked in her throat.

It had to be someone else, someone that looked like him. It couldn’t be him. She kept telling herself that over and over but she couldn’t deceive herself. It was really him.

* * *

Kitty and Trix found her deep within the Ghost Zone. She had beside her a box of things which she would take out, throw up in the air, and try to shoot it with her ghost rays. The masses of floating debris and handful of unharmed objects told the two that she had been there for quite a while.

“Phé, what are you doing all the way out here so late?” Kitty scolded, “You’re mother called me to ask where you were, she’s worried sick about you.”

Ophelia said nothing, she just continued to pull stuff out of the box to shoot. 

“Ophelia, are you even listening to me? Ophelia!”

“Perhaps we should call Richard,” Trix suggested, “he’d certainly calm her down.”

At the sound of his name, Ophelia calmed from her anger and stopped shooting. Tears swelled, her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. Kitty and Trix immediately ran to her side. 

“Nice going, Trixie.” 

“What did I do? All I did was mention Richard-“

Ophelia cried harder. The ghost girls exchanged looks.

“Ophelia, did something happen between you and Richard.”

Ophelia couldn’t stop sobbing.

“He-he…I saw…kissing…cheating…on me!”

“What!”

“Cujo…park…bushes…other girl…”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell us any more.”

The three of them sat on the ground looking ahead at the empty space beyond the desolate rock. 

“I can’t believe he’d do that to you. I mean, after all you did for him. And you two seemed to really like each other.”

“You should have seen them at school, they’re practically inseparable.”

“Apparently we weren’t if he found some other girl to suck face with!” Ophelia screeched. She hugged her knees. Her eye glass from the tears that kept trickling down her cheeks.   
“What did I do wrong, you guys? Did I not give him enough? That girl looked like a senior, did he think I was too young for him? Not pretty enough? Why did he even want to be with me in the first place!” She dried her eyes. With a sniffle, she added: “Maybe, maybe I’m just not human enough.”

Trix and Kitty’s eyes met. Kitty rubbed Ophelia back in a soothing, comforting motion. 

“Hey, Ophelia, hey, it’s not your fault. You’ve done nothing wrong, you’re-“  
“If you’re going to give me the ‘you’re perfect just the way you are’ speech, I’d rather not hear it right now.”

“Fine, I’ll just get to the bottom line: Richard’s a jerk. He’s a creep and a lying pig. You deserve better, way better.”

“He should never show his face around the Ghost Zone again,” Trix said, “If he knows what’s good for him.”

“Wait until your old man deals with him,” Kitty said, “He’d wish he never laid eyes on that other girl.” 

Ophelia let out a small laugh. 

“That does make me feel a little better.”

“There you go. You wanna keep destroying his stuff?”

Ophelia nodded.

“Here, we’ll throw them for you. Just give us the word.”

Ophelia smile and nodded again.

Trix grabbed the box and both she and Kitty pulled out something to throw.

“So, what are you going to do?” Trix asked.

Ophelia smiled her mischievous smile that both of the girls came to know so well.

“You’ll see tomorrow. Pull!”

* * *

 Richard didn’t see Ophelia at school that morning. It worried him greatly since they would always meet up in the morning before class. What if she got sick and had to be put under quarantine? What if a bus hit her before she could turn intangible? What if she got abducted and held hostage while under obligation of the Contract, again.

He asked her friends, they didn’t know. Owen, that boy who had that desperate crush on Ophelia, gave him an evil glare.

“Did I do something wrong?” Richard asked.

“I don’t know, did you?” Owen said with a bite Richard never knew he had.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m just saying that you two spend a lot of time together, a _lot_ of time. Maybe during that time you would see what could’ve made her cry so much.”

“Cry?”

“The Fentons’ house is right next door to mine. Ophelia’s room is right across the way from mine. When she cries, I hear it, and a heard a lot of crying last night. With _your_ name mentioned between the tears.”

“My fair Ophelia is upset with me? I did not do anything.” At least not anything she knew about.

“Listen, Ophelia’s my best friend. I’ve known her longer than you have, three months sure, but it’s still longer. She’s a nice, caring, sensitive girl, and I wouldn’t want to see her heart get broken by a jerk like you. So, as her friend, I am warning you. If you’ve done anything to hurt her, if you _ever_ do anything to hurt her, I will hurt you _worse_.”

“Such words for someone who claims to be just her friend.” Richard said with a sly smile.

Owen’s face flushed.

“Excuse me?”

“I know you pine for her. Ophelia knows as well. The fair she tried to hide our relationship so it wouldn’t break your little heart. I couldn’t care less about your adoration for her, because you are no threat to me. She is mine. I have won the suit, and you just have to live with that.” Owen was taken aback by the comment. Richard let out a light chuckle before he continued. “Your threats are cute, but we both know that she would do anything to protect the people she cares about. Imagine what she does when she loves them.”

Owen’s face darkened. _Now_ he looked like he could pose a real threat.

 “She doesn’t love you.”

But not a good threat.

“I think she does, and I think you cannot handle it. And if you cannot handle seeing her sweet face smile because of me, then I advise you never see her face again. So if you will excuse me, I need to find _my_ sweetheart. Do you not hear her lips just begging for mine?”

He walked away, leaving a stunned Owen standing at the steps. He scoured the halls, finding no sign of her. When the bell rang, alerting him that he had five minutes to get to his first period class, he finally saw her. She was with her human girl friends, talking to them happily as ever. He didn’t understand what Owen was talking about. She didn’t look like she had spent the whole night crying over him, she looked perfectly happy. The girls dispersed as soon as they heard the bell. Ophelia's eyes finally fell to him. Her eyes flashed with a sweet yet icy smile. It was her mischievous smile she would give to someone in her fights. He had never seen in directed at him. Now he was worried.

“Richard.”

It was Courtney, the girl he was seeing on the side. His eyes widened in surprise as he glanced back at Ophelia’s direction. She was gone. He was relieved. The last thing he needed was for her to see the other girl, especially since he had worked so hard for her not to know she even existed.

“Oh, hello Courtney.” he asked while cooling his nerves. He just then notice Courtney’s anger.  “Is something wrong?”

He then noticed the box in her arms. It had an enveloped taped to the top of it with his name written in neat little cursive letters. Ophelia’s neat little cursive letters.

“That Phantom girl just walked right up to me, handed me this box and said ‘Give this to my ex-boyfriend Richie, he’s all yours now.’ Is there something you’re not telling me? Were you really her boyfriend?”

Richard ignored her and took the envelope from the box. He opened it to find a note in equally neat cursive letters as the ones on the envelope.

 

_We’re through._

_Here’s your stuff back._

_-Ophelia_

 

“ _Hello?_ Richard, I’m _talking_ to you! What is going on! Have you been seeing someone else? Or was I the someone else? Did you do the same stuff to her that you did with me? That's disgusting, she's just a baby!”

He put the note back in the envelope. He took the box from Courtney.

“It is nothing for you to worry about. I’ll see you later, okay?”

He walked off, leaving her screams of protest behind him. When he got to his locker, he opened the box. Just like the note said, it was all the stuff he left behind in her house. Or at least, what was left of them. They were all burned and broken into pieces, as if they were al shot by lasers. Or a ghost ray.  He could hardly tell what was left in the rubble.

Irritated, he shut the box and opened his locker to put it away. When he opened the door he was toppled over by the many ashes and burned objects inside. A good amount were pictures of him with Ophelia. Some were intact, but some were just borders and a big hole where a ghost ray shot through. When he sat up, a note fluttered onto his lap. He picked it up and read it.

 

_Here’s all my stuff that I don’t want anymore._

_P.S.-_

_I left the hero shots intact in your new girlfriend’s locker._

_Thought she should know._

 

 

 


	15. The Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richard tries to get back together with Ophelia.

_We are never ever, ever getting back together  
  
  
_ Ophelia banged her head against the table as her phone went off. For the twelfth time this morning, Richard was calling her, and for the twelfth time this morning, she was going to ignore the call and delete whatever ridiculous voicemail he was going to leave behind. For days, he has been trying to get her to talk to him. You’d think he would leave her alone after her father had “talked” with him after the break up. All it did was get him to stop coming to her house. __  
  


_We-ee are never ever, ever getting back together_  
  
“You gonna get that, Phé?” said Owen as he grabbed a seat next to her at the lunch table outside.

“I’d rather not.” Ophelia grumbled from under the wood. “It’s Richard.”

“Why is he still calling you? I thought you two were over.”  
  
_You go talk to your friends talk  
to my friends talk to me  
  
_ “Apparently my note, burning his stuff and returning it, and my dad re-killing him wasn’t clear enough for him.”  
  
_But we are never ever, ever getting back together._  
  
“Give me that.” He grabbed her phone before she could say anything and answered. “Hey Richard? This is Owen. She never wants to see you again, get over it!”  
…  
“Because she doesn’t want to talk to you.”  
….

“No, I am not her boyfriend and I can’t read her mind.”  
…  
“Because then she would’ve answered your phones call and not have assigned a Taylor Swift song as your ringtone.”  
….

“What do you mean ‘who’s Taylor Swift’?!”

Ophelia snatched the phone out of his hand and hung it up.

“Thank you, Sir Dodgeson, I think you may’ve made the situation worse.”

“I was just trying to help.” He said guiltily. 

Ophelia smiled.

“And I appreciate it, but there isn’t really anything you can help with. He’s not going to leave me alone until I talk to him.”

“So why don’t you talk to him? Or is there some kind of girl logic I’m not getting here?”

“No, it’s just….how can I stand in the same room with him after what he did? It makes me sick at the sound of his name.”  


_We are never ever, ever getting back together._  
  
Ophelia threw the phone across the schoolyard. 

“Ow!” 

“Uh, oh” Ophelia closed her eyes and crossed her fingers. “Please don’t be a teacher, please don’t be a teacher, please don’t be a teacher.”

“Fenton!”

“Damn!”

Coach Baxter walked up to her, one hand held her phone while the other was rubbing the spot on his head the phone hit. 

“Care to explain how your phone ended up at the back of my head?”

“Um…your head got in the way of my phone?”

Baxter let out a sarcastic laugh. 

“Funny, you can work on the rest of your act in detention.”

“Great” Ophelia grumbled.

“And you won’t be seeing this until Friday.” With that, Baxter put Ophelia’s phone in her pocket and walked away. Ophelia’s head returned to the surface of the table.

“Just when this day couldn’t get any worse…”

 Owen gave a reassuring pat on the back.

“Hey look on the bright side: they don’t allow cell phones during detention. What’s the worst that can happen to you while you’re in detention?”

“You do realize when you say stuff like that the universe takes that as a challenge?”

* * *

 She got to the classroom that was holding detention early in hopes she’d get let out early as well. She sat herself by the window, yet her eyes went straight to the clock. Her fingers thrummed against the desk in tempo with the very loud second hand. Detention hadn’t even started yet and she already felt bored and miserable. But she did have to admit that Owen was right. With her cell phone gone, she didn’t have to deal with Richard calls.

  
Suddenly, Ophelia hiccuped a blue wisp. Her eyes flashed in irritation. Richard was close by, she could sense it.

“Looks like the universe is accepting Owen’s challenge.” Ophelia muttered to herself.

“Is this the classroom where detention is being held?”

She looked up, her eyes widened. There was Richard, at the door, going in for detention in the same room as her. The teacher holding detention took the slip of paper Richard held out.

“You’re in the right place, Mr. Waltz, go and take your seat anywhere.”

Ophelia’s eyes and she got up from her seat.

“Mr. Tesla, is there another classroom I can do my time in?”

“Sit down, Fenton, you’re stuck with me today.”

“But-“

“I said sit down!”

Ophelia sank to her seat. 

“Yes sir.” She said in a somewhat childish despair.

Richard took his seat next to her. He smiled at her as if they were still friends, Ophelia stared straight out to the window.

“Come on,” Richard whispered to her,  “You have to talk to me now.”

Ophelia said nothing, did nothing, only stared out the window.

“I heard you had gotten detention today, so I thought if I did something to land myself here too, you would have no choice but to talk to me. Do you want to know what I did to send me here?”

Ophelia said nothing, did nothing, only stared out the window.

“I stole a phone.”

Richard put something on her desk and slid it into Ophelia’s line of vision. Against her better judgment, she looked down. It was her cell phone, he had stolen it to return it to her.

“I heard the ringtone you gave me, it is rather humorous.”

Ophelia said nothing, and continued to stare out the window. She took the phone off her desk and dropped it in her bag.

“You’ve accepted my peace offering, you must talk to me now.”

Ophelia still said nothing.

“Please Ophelia, I’m sorry. I really am sorry for what I have done. I never meant to hurt you, I just…fell into some bad temptations. But could you blame me? Seeing something as perfect as you and only allowed a small taste... Look, there is no way I can explain that will make me look any better, I know that. You had done so much for me, sacrificed so much for my own happiness, and I repaid you with infidelity. I am just sad that it took me losing you to understand that as well as  how much of a betrayal it was to you. Courtney truly meant nothing to me, just an outlet for some urges that I couldn't ask you to satisfy. It is you whom I care for. I am not going to ask you for forgiveness, because even a lowly worm like me knows that I do not deserve such a blessing from an angel like you. So I will be satisfied with you at least hearing what I have to say. And if you listened to any of this, then I thank you for your blessing.”

Ophelia looked at him from the corner of her eye. She breathed out a laugh and smiled.

“You say the cheesiest things. It is a true miracle that I went out with you in the first place.”

Richard looked at her surprised, but quickly melted into a smile.

“You just spoke to me.”

“I have to, if I didn’t you’d keep talking like that.”

They both laughed at Richard’s expense.

“Keep it down, you two!” Shouted Mr. Tesla.

“Yes, sir.” They said almost in unison.

They stared down at their desks. Ophelia then looked over to him.

“Listen, Richard,” she whispered, “I still haven’t forgiven you for what you did, but I am grateful that you went through so much trouble to talk to me.  So how about I give you a chance to make it up to me. A chance to earn my forgiveness, what do you say?”

Richard looked like she had just told him he won the lottery.

“Really? Then how about I start today.” 

He took out his notebook and scribbled something down. He then tore the piece of paper out of the book, folded it up and handed it to Ophelia. 

“Meet me here at nine tonight. I’ll show you just how much you mean to me.”

Ophelia looked at the paper hesitantly, her fingers dance around it. After a few moments, she took the paper out of his hands and put it in her pocket.

“I hope I’m not making the wrong decision here.”

Richard smiled, she saw something there that she couldn’t quite place.

“We’ll just have to wait and see, now won’t we?”

* * *

 Owen stayed in after school to help paint a set of the school play. When he finished, he decided to wait a little longer for Ophelia to get out of detention. He made to the room holding detention and looked through the little window in the door.

  
Owen’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

  There was only one other kid in the classroom: the cheating jerk that broke his best friend’s heart. He was sitting next to said best friend…and they were actually talking to each other? A friendly talk?

“What the hell!”

The two kids heard his outcry and turned to the door. Owen immediately ducked under the window in hopes that they couldn’t see him. What was Waltz doing there? And why is Ophelia talking to him when she wanted nothing to do with him? Owen was practically nauseated by the emotional turmoil inside him. Now he was definitely going to wait until detention let out.

He sat on ground across the door and pulled his sketchpad and pencil. He didn’t know what he was going to draw, he just wanted to do something to pass the time and clear his mind. He couldn’t focus enough to do a proper drawing so he filled the page with doodles instead. His small, mundane and meaningless scribbles soon turned into cartoons of himself and Richard. All of them involved him inflicting bodily harm upon Richard in creative ways. He finished drawing of him shooting Richard out of a canon when the door opened.

“So I’ll see you there, right?” he heard Richard say. 

“Sure, “ was Ophelia’s response, “I’ll be there.”

“Thank you so much for giving me this chance, Ophelia. You won’t regret it.”

“For both our sakes, I hope you are right.”

Owen finally looked up in time to see Richard walk away and Ophelia wave goodbye to him. Richard caught Owen looking at him and smiled at him. That smug bastard! Owen was planning out his next cartoon: an iron boxing glove to that smug little face.

He turned back to Ophelia, who seemed to have just then noticed he was there.

“Oh, hey Owen, were you waiting out here the whole time?”

“I stayed in to paint a set, so no, not the whole time. What was Richard doing in there with you?”

Ophelia giggled like he just told her a joke. If it was, then he certainly didn’t get it.

“Oh, he heard that I got detention so he got himself in trouble so I would have no choice to talk to him.”

“And you actually talked to him? And what was that about meeting him at someplace.”

“Mostly it was him talking at me. And he wanted to make up for cheating on me and wants me to meet him at this place for some sort of surprise.”  
As she spoke, she pulled a slip of paper out of a pocket on her denim jacket and handed it to Owen. He took it and read the address.

“917 Maple Street? The abandoned house we had to decorate on Halloween?”  
Ophelia took the paper back and inspected it.

“Yeah, remember, that’s where we first met him. I guess he’s hoping nostalgia will help win me over.”

“I really don’t think you should go, Ophelia. I can’t explain it, but something about this doesn’t feel right. I don’t trust him at all and I’m rather surprised you don’t feel the same.”

Ophelia smiled.

“Owen, you worry too much. I haven’t forgiven him for what he did, and I’m sure as hell not getting back together with him. I’m just giving him a little chance at redeeming himself. Whether he blows it or not, we’ll both be satisfied and he’ll finally leave me alone. You understand what I’m saying?”

Frankly, Owen didn’t.

“Is this more weird girl logic that I’m not getting?”

Ophelia rolled her eyes.

“Just get that there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Alright, just let me go with you just in case something goes wrong.”

Ophelia giggled a little.

“You don’t need to, I can take care of myself just fine. I have ghost powers, remember?”

Owen cast his eyes to the ground.

“I guess so.”

“Thanks, I appreciate your concern. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Alright, see you then.”

With that, Ophelia scurried off out of school. As she did so, she failed to notice the scrap of paper fall out of her pocket. Owen picked it up and was about to call after her, but he stopped himself. He looked at the address scribbled onto it. There was a time written underneath it. 

“She already knows where it is,” he assured himself. “She doesn’t need this.”

He stuck the paper in his pocket, put his sketchbook in his backpack, and left the hallway. All the while thinking about what he going to do about Richard and how to help his friend.

* * *

 Danny went out for patrol as soon as night fell, just as he has always done on his days away from space. Tonight was a particularly boring one with nothing to do but fly around. He even checked with Valarie, who had not even a misdemeanor ghost crime to deal with. Perhaps a couple more hours of this and he can go home, by that time Sam would be back from work and they can both deal with Ophelia getting detention, again.

“Mr. Fenton! Mr. Fenton!”

Danny looked down and his agitation grew. Richard Waltz, the ghost boy that broke his daughter’s heart and refused to leave her alone, was making his way up to him. Danny groaned and rolled his eyes, he did not want to deal with this boy tonight.

“What do you want, Waltz?”

“It’s Ophelia, she-“

“I thought we’ve talked about you staying away from my daughter, or do you need a refresher?” He flashed his eyes to add to the threat. He didn’t even smile as he saw Waltz flinch, he was too fed up with him. 

“No, it’s not like that. She’s in trouble. She got into a fight and got really hurt.”

“What! Where?”

“It’s this old abandoned house across town.”

“Show me!” 

Without a word, Richard sped off to what Danny hoped where Ophelia was. He followed him past the park, the school, the mall, all the way across the river to Elmerton. In the back of his mind he wondered what Ophelia was doing all the way here, and how Richard knew where to find her. However, he didn’t think too deeply about those questions. Ophelia was hurt and he needed to save her, that’s all that mattered.

Finally, they phased through the roof of a very old, crumbling townhouse. Danny generated a beam of ghost energy in his hand to light the pitch-black room. From looking around, he imagined the floorboards breaking under his daughter, or something fell on her before she could turn intangible.

He turned to Waltz.

“Where is she?” he demanded, his face stern and void of humor.

“She’s in the other room, hurry, she must have fallen unconscious.”

Richard pointed to a parlor across from them. Without any hesitation, Danny flew straight in. 

“Ophelia!” he shouted, his voice returning in a harsh echo. “Ophelia where are you!”

There was no answer. Danny turned the ball of energy in his hand from green to white and tossed it up to the ceiling. Light filled the small room, revealing it to be completely empty.

“She’s not here,” Danny told Richard, “Are you sure we’re in the right place?”

“I am quite certain, Mr. Phantom.” 

Danny turned to Richard and found him putting on a gas mask.

“What’s with the mask?” Danny asked. 

Richard’s reply was muffled under the mask, Danny could barely understand what he had said.

“Did you say ‘smoke bomb’?”

Richard nodded. He pulled something from behind his back. It was a cylindrical object that was spewing green smoke from both ends. He put it on the ground and let it roll across the room, filling the air with the gas. Danny recognized the device: it was developed by his parents long ago. It used a knock out gas that affected both ghosts and humans.  Danny couldn’t hold his breath in time and started to feel woozy. His knees buckled and fell to the ground. He could barely hold himself up, he felt so weak. 

“W-what are you doing?” Danny could barely drawl out.

Another muffled response, he only managed to hear two words: “Boss’s orders”

“W-what….” Danny’s arms wobbled and he couldn’t hold himself up any longer. He fell on his side and rolled to his back. The last thing he saw before slipping out of consciousness was Waltz looking down at him. He could see the ghost smiling through his damned gas mask.

* * *

 

Ophelia made it to the old house with little issue. It was creepier and more desolate looking than she remembered, especially in the night and without any decorations to light it up. Outside of the context of their history, she would’ve considered a red flag. But she did promise to give him a chance, and so she phased through the gates and went up to the abandoned house.

“Richard?” she called out. She heard her voice being bounced round the rooms like a rubber ball. There was no response. She used her insight to check if there was anyone else in the house at all. She found his psyche somewhere on the second floor. She flew up and phased through the ceiling. The hallway was pitch black, the only light came from the faint glow of Ophelia’s own being.

“Richard? Are you in here, hello?” she called out again. Still no response, she could see that he didn’t even try to move from where he was. Ophelia followed the light of his psyche a room at the end of the hallway.

“Richard, I do not know what game you’re playing at here, but it’s not funny.”

She tried to open the door to find that the room was locked. So she then phased through the door and into the room. The room was lit by a few candles strewn here and there, it was only enough to see how big the room was. It made her think of altars where people performed human sacrifice rituals, not something she wanted to think about someone she was suppose to forgive. There was something in the center of the room, though she couldn’t quite tell what it was from where she was. She walked up to the center of the room and knelt down to see the shape. They were stacks of notebooks and photographs, opened and scattered as if someone had just looked at them. In the light of her own glow, she saw that they were pictures of herself. Some were from when she and Richard were dating, the ones he had with him and therefore she could not destroy. Others were from further distances, shot from farther away and cropped in. They showed her in her fights when she used her powers, with a few showing more mundane scenes. Ophelia lost all color at the thought of someone following her around to take these photos. Even worse, she never sensed them.

She picked up one of the books and read it.   


_She has a lot to hide, that is clear to everyone, but every kiss I take peels away another layer of her defense and shows me deeper secrets…._  
  


The book fell out of Ophelia’s hands, she couldn’t read anymore of it. Her eyes dimmed and faded to a pale shade of green that was almost white. Inside her head she was screaming.  
  
_Red flag! Red flag! RED FLAG!_  
  
She snapped out her shock and quickly got up to leave. She turned and came face to face with Richard. She screamed and jumped back, startled at his sudden appearance. 

“I’m sorry, dearest,” he said sweetly “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“W-what is all this?” she asked, gesturing to the books and photos at her feet.

“Oh, just a few mementos of our time together.” He said. “Do you remember this room, Ophelia? It was the room we were assigned to decorate together. It looks quite different after they took everything down.”

“I-I guess.”

Ophelia kept a hand behind her back. She hoped the room wasn’t too dark that he would notice her charging up a ghost ray.

“Yes, all the hard work we did. How easily it was taken down. I guess you can say this room is a symbol of us: how easily we fell apart.”

“I never thought of it that way.”

“You see, I worked so hard to get you to like me, to get you to trust me enough for you to share your innermost secrets. And then one little kiss managed to reduce all that hard work to nothing. You can imagine how angry he was when I told them we were over?”

“He?”

“My boss, the one who sent me to you. Would you like to see him? I believe you have already met…”

Ophelia shot him with a ghost ray before he could say more. She ran straight to the door and opened it. Right when she was about to cross the threshold, Richard forced her back into the room by her hair. With a hard yank, she fell backwards into his arms.

“Now why would you do that, my angel?” he said to her in an eerie calm that set her on edge.

“Let me go!” she screeched as she tried to claw out of his grip.

“Why?  Remember how you loved being safe in my arms?” He was stroking her head as if she was a sweet little kitten. “You never wanted me to let you go.”

Ophelia kicked and struggled and squirmed and did everything she could to get him to let her go. She started to scream when Richard cover her mouth.

“Now, now, sweetheart, you’ll wake the neighbors. Perhaps you need to rest.”

A great shock of ghost energy went through her body. She screamed through his hand. When he stopped shocking her, he let her fall to the ground. Her vision started to blur, she could barely see him kneeling over her and stroking her cheek.

“Rest up, dearest, you’re going to need all your energy for what he has planned for you….”

Then it all went black.

* * *

 Danny did not come to slowly to the sounds of machines buzzing and whirring like the ones he grew up with his entire childhood. He did not slowly process that he was in a standing position and nor did he internally cringe at the familiar feeling of being strapped down to some form of examination table. He did not slowly open his eyes to find that he was indeed inside a laboratory. Danny did not get the pleasure of a slow awakening, instead he was awakened by the intense burning sensation of being strapped down to said table by ectoranium cuffs.

He made a small outcry of pain and snapped his eyes open. He looked around to confirm to himself that he was indeed in a lab. A downward glance revealed the person strapping him down. He knew better than to expect that no good ghost punk Richard Waltz to be the culprit, ghosts couldn’t touch ectoranium after all, but he did not expect his mortal enemy to be the one standing there.

“Vlad!”

Yes Vlad, in human form, stood there, locking his cuffs into place.

“Oh, Daniel, did I wake you?” he said with a sly smile, “I’m awfully sorry.”

Danny struggled against the restraints, allowing the metal to burn more of his skin.

“What’s going on! Let me go!”

“After all this time planning the demise of you and your child? I think not!”

“What have you done to Ophelia!”

Vlad stepped away and black rings change him from Masters to Plasmius before Danny’s eyes.

“Nothing. At least, not yet. My assistant is fetching her for me as we speak.”

“Waltz? He was working for you-” Danny was going to say more but the pain of the cuffs overcame him.

“Honestly Daniel, you should know better than to stay in your ghostly form while restrained with ectoranium cuffs. You’d think you would have at least a _small_ amount of your mother’s intellect.”

Danny gave Vlad an angry scowl as he let the white rings change him into the human Danny Fenton. The cuffs still hurt, but it was tolerable.

“You hired a ghost to spy on my family by dating my daughter? You are a sick old man, Plamius!”

Vlad scowled for a moment before returning to his aloof and arrogant demeanor.

“Well, I never intended him to date the girl, only for him to befriend her. He was only meant to get close enough to get information.”

“Yeah, he got close alright.”

“He only sought the opportunity when Ophelia gave it to him. Rather clever of him, don’t you think? If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have known about that special little power she had.”

“What power?”

Vlad looked rather surprised, but still arrogant enough to make Danny want to punch his lights out.

“What? You did not know? How she can read a person’s very essence just by looking at them? How she can speak their language by hearing a word or learn their past by a shake of their hands? How she can tell secrets of her own self through a kiss? Well, I doubt she knows of that last part herself.”

Danny lost his anger for a moment, it was replaced with parental concern.

“Ophelia could do all that and she never told me?”

“Well, it looks like your enemy knows your only child better than you do. That’s rather pathetic, don’t you think?”

Danny growled, his eyes flashing green. Even the small amount of ghost energy caused the cuffs to burn him, but he was too furious to care.

“Leave Ophelia out of this! She has done nothing for you to harm her-“

“Yet! She hasn’t done anything to invoke my wrath _yet_! But she will, I know she will.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because she’s _your_ child! Your child and _Jack Fenton’s_ gradchild! All you Fentons have done is steal from me and ruin my life. Jack stole my one true love and you stole my reputation, what says that your child won’t follow her father’s footsteps and take the last thing I have in this world.”

“What could she possibly take from you that would mean so much?”

“ _My life!_ ”

Danny was in a stunned silence. The furious green blinked out of his eyes, returning them to sky blue. He did not expect this.

“I thought you were mad, but I never thought you were this insane. You truly believe that my daughter will kill you just because she’s _my_ kid?”

“Eventually, she will. Whether it be intentional or no, she will be responsible for my death, as well as the death of others. She is more powerful than she can comprehend, even more than you or I have yet to comprehend. Do you think she will be able to contain that power without some consequence? You won’t be able to guide her, you can’t even get her to show her all of her powers. She will destroy everything we hold dear unless we can destroy her first.” Vlad’s expression changed. If Danny didn’t know him so well, he would’ve thought the old half-ghost was feeling remorseful. “It’s not like I want to do this, this wasn’t my first option. She’s Maddie’s granddaughter, after all. I would have loved to raise her as my own, just as I had wished to raise you. She would have been my second chance, but you left me with no other options. You all did.”

“I will never let you hurt her!”

Vlad smiled, Danny could hear him laugh under his breath.

“Fortunately for me, I don’t need your permission. I don’t need anything from you but an audience.”

Danny heard the sound of doors opening and closing. Vlad looked over to the direction of the doors and his smile grew wider, bearing his awful fangs to glint in the artificial light.

“Ah, perfect timing.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Waltz walk in with something draped over his arms. He couldn’t see clearly just what it was until Richard set it down on the table across from him. Danny struggled harder against the restraints when he recognized Ophelia lying unconscious across from him.

“What did you do to her!” He demanded.

“Just a small shock to put her to sleep,” Richard chirped, “Nothing to worry about.”

He stroked her cheek lovingly and added. “I would never want to put my angel through more pain than necessary.”

“Don’t you dare touch her!” Danny spat, the cuffs burned again as his eyes flashed green.

Richard smiled as he strapped her onto the table. 

“Don’t make them too loose, Richard,” Vlad told him, “We don’t want her to slip out of them.”

“Yes sir,” was Richard’s obedient reply. 

Danny glared from Waltz to Plasmius with increasing vehemence.

“What are you going to do to her?”

Vlad gave Danny a sinister grin as he walked over to the control panel right beside Ophelia.

“I believe the root of all our problems lies in the girl’s ghost energy. The poor thing has such a heavy burden to bear with all those powers, I believe it is only kind to lift it from her. And I have just the device to do it.”

With a push of a button, the sound of mechanical hinges and hydraulics came from above. Danny looked up to find a device seemingly no different from a common laser, but he knew there was something more sinister to it than that. When the device was fully lowered and made no more sound, Vlad continued.

“This will drain Ophelia of every last drop of ecto-energy in her body, leaving her with only her humanity to bear.”

Fear stabbed Danny deep within his chest.

“You can’t do that! Her genetic structure is too unstable. It will kill her!”

“Will it now?” Vlad said, completely unsurprised. “Then I suppose I will be doing the world the honor of ridding it of one less Fenton.”

Danny tried harder still to slip out of his bonds. He transformed back into Phantom in hopes of using his own ghost energy to break his bonds, all it did was burn him worse.

“Please Vlad, don’t do this! Your problem is with me, it has always been with me! Please, kill me if it means you’ll let her live!”

Vlad laughed as if this whole thing was some amusing joke. Richard joined in too, they seemed to be enjoying whatever Danny wasn’t getting.

“As if I would let you live. Ha! No, no you are going to watch Ophelia suffer, and as soon as she has breathed her last breath and her heart beats no more, I will dispose of you _personally_.” Vlad charged his fist with ghostly energy to add to the threat. “Not to worry, Daniel, you won’t suffer any less than your child, I’ll make sure of it.”

 Vlad waved off the energy like it was smoke. He then turned to Waltz.

“Richard, wake her up. The girl at least deserves to exchange her last words with her father.”

Waltz nodded. He charged his hand with blue energy. He touched her shoulder with his index finger, giving her a small shock. Ophelia’s eyes snapped open and she gasped in reaction to the shock. She tried to bolt upwards, but was thrown back down by the straps. Ophelia’s eyes darted around, trying to process where she was and what was happening. Her eyes stopped and her head turned to Vlad.

“Vlad!” Danny could see her eyes flashed, although her face was away from him. She turned over to Richard. “You were working for Vlad!”

Richard smiled. He put his hand on her face to brush away her bangs from her eyes. 

“Are you really that surprised, Ophelia, what other reason would I be near anything like you?”

“But how could you-how did I not-“

“How could you not see me with that little gift of yours?”

Ophelia’s eyes were dimmer. 

“How do you know about that?” she whispered hoarsely.

So Vlad wasn’t lying, Danny thought, she actually has a power he did not know about.

“You should be careful of whom you kiss, Ophelia, those lips tell a lot of secrets.”

She was silent, probably trying to process what that meant.

“You mean, every time I kissed you….I transmitted a piece of my psyche to you?”

“Psyche? Is that what you call it?” Richard’s hand went from her forehead to her cheek. “How adorable.”

“But how? How couldn’t I read you? How couldn’t I see you for what you were?”

Richard shrugged.

“I guess I can deceive people at a psychic level, or maybe you aren’t as good at judging someone’s character as you think you are. You can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if we went all the wa-”

Richard let out a cry of pain and pulled his hand away. It wasn’t too hard for Danny to figure out that Ophelia had bit him. 

That’s his girl.

“You little brat!” Richard said before striking her.

“Lay off her!” Danny cried out.

Ophelia turned her head to him. Her eyes flashed a pale lavender at the sight of him.

“Dad?”

“It’s alright, honey, I’ll get us out of this, I promise.”

“Come now, Daniel,” said Vlad, “You shouldn’t lie to your daughter in her last moments of life.”

Ophelia was breathing heavily, her eyes were misting.

“Dad, what is he talking about? What’s happening?”

Danny was about to say something, but Vlad stopped him. He went over to her.

“What should’ve happened ten years ago, my dear child. You should’ve joined me when I gave you the chance. I would’ve been such a great father to you, you wouldn’t have suffered when you were with me.” His fingers combed through her hair, mimicking the tenderness of a father. “I would’ve protected you from the world and all its hatred. But no, you chose to be a Fenton, you chose him!” He turned her head towards Danny. “And now he can do nothing but watch you die a slow and painful death before he loses his own life. Just know, girl, that this could’ve easily been avoided if you had made the right choice that night.”

Ophelia’s eyes misted. Vlad’s hand was still on her face so she still had to look at her father. Danny could see fear in her eyes. She was pleading, pleading so desperately for him to save her. If only he could tell her in a way both of them could believe.

“Please, Vlad,” said Ophelia, he could hear it in her voice that she was fighting back tears. “I’ve never done anything to you. Please, just let me go!”

Vlad lost a bit of his smile. He turned her head towards him. 

“Honestly, Ophelia, I had expected a lot more fight out of you than this. I’m quite disappointed, Daniel should’ve taught you to face your demise much more valiantly than this.”

“Go to hell, Plasmius!” Danny spat. 

“After you, my dear friend.” Vlad replied with so much arrogance that made Danny desperate to break out of his ties and punch his face in. 

“Now, Ophelia, dear,” Vlad continued with a patronizing tone. “Don’t you want to say goodbye to your father? Even a creature like you deserves to give a proper farewell.”

Ophelia said nothing. By the purple light, Danny could tell she was staring him down with every ounce of rebellion she had left in her.

“No final words? Even more disappointing. How about you Daniel? Surely you must have some last words to say to your only child.”

Danny said nothing, only flashing his eyes at him with deadly vehemence. Neither of them were going to say goodbye, neither of them were going to give Vlad the satisfaction of hearing them admit defeat.

“Nothing? Neither of you want to say your farewells? Pity. You’re almost sucking the fun out of all this. _Almost_.”

“Come on, Phé,” Said Richard sweetly, “You don’t want to say anything to your dear father?  You spent most of our relationship endlessly talking, now would be a good time to say something.”

Ophelia still said nothing, but instead spat in his face. Danny couldn’t help but smile.

Richard looked furious, both his hands glowing blue. He seemed ready to strangle her.

“Waltz, contain yourself.” Vlad commanded, “I will not allow you to harm her before I start the procedure.”

Ever so reluctantly, Richard obeyed. His hand stopped glowing and fell back to his sides. Vlad smiled and returned to the control panel operating the machine.

“Now, since neither of you will say your last words, we might as well start the procedure.” Vlad hit a few keys and the machine hummed to life. The end of the laser started to glow and spark. Ophelia, the dear thing, tried to hide her terror, but even from where Danny was standing he could see it clear as day.

“I suggest you try not to blink, Daniel,” Vlad told him, “You won’t want to miss a moment of this.”

With that, Vlad hit one more key, and Ophelia screams echoed off every corner of the lair.

“Ophelia!”

 


	16. Finally!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Season Finale

For a moment, Danny was frozen in shock. There he was, strapped to a table by ectoranium cuffs that was burning his non-corporeal flesh, watching his only child getting the life, or rather afterlife, sucked out of her by a invention of his arch enemy. His eardrums were pierced by Ophelia’s screams. By the sound of it, whatever pain Danny himself was going through from the ectoranium was nothing compared to what Ophelia was feeling. 

“Ophelia!” he screamed out.

Vlad, the sadistic mastermind behind it all, looked up at him with a heinous smile. He was enjoying this, Danny could see it clearly. But it wasn’t because of the girl’s physical suffering, though knowing the lowly , heartless creature he had some joy in it. No, his true source was that Danny, his long-hated enemy, was there to watch helplessly as he destroyed what he held more dear than his own life (of which he would have only a few minutes of). 

Danny struggled against the cuffs, causing himself more pain. He saw Vlad saying something to him, but he couldn’t hear him over Ophelia. In a sad way he was glad, he didn’t want to hear him gloating over their demise. 

He looked to Ophelia. She was writhing as if it electrocuted her as well. The straps holding her down kept her from any violent jerking movements. The scars sprouted across her skin, they seemed to be growing like the flowers they emulated. Tears were streaming down the side of her face and sweat beaded her forehead. Her screams where getting hoarser and hoarser, until they were mere moans in pain. To Danny’s shock, her hair was changing from white to grey, she was starting to lose too much of her ghost energy. 

That’s when something in him clicked. 

He struggled harder against the cuffs, harder than he ever thought he could go. He heard cracking sounds, so low and quiet that he knew it was something internal. The cracking was followed by the horrendous creaking of protesting metal. He felt the binds loosen and kept going. Then, finally, he broke out of the cuffs. 

Vlad was too focused on Ophelia to notice anything amiss, and so was his lackey Richard. Danny used that time to shoot both of them with a ghost ray, sending them flying to the opposite wall. Danny flew like a lightning flash to the control panel operating the weapon killing his daughter. Right when he got a good look and had a faint idea how the thing worked he got knocked aside by a magenta ghost ray. Danny landed on his feet and slid to a stop, his hands charged and ready to fight. His green eyes glowing violently at Vlad, who was doing a fairly good job hiding his surprise.

“How did you manage to break out of those bonds?” Vlad asked in a tone Danny could not quite place. Danny said nothing, Vlad sneered.

“Very well, I may have underestimated you Daniel, but it certainly doesn’t mean either of you are getting out of this alive.”

Vlad shot ghost rays from both his hands at Danny. Danny put up a shield just in time to block his attack, and used it to bounce his shots back at him. Vlad phased through the floor, completely missing the attack. Danny didn’t see that Vlad was behind him until he knocked him down. Vlad stomped a foot onto Danny’s chest, causing him to cry out in pain. Vlad raised an eyebrow. He leaned over and tightly grasped one of Danny’s wrists, causing him to cry out once again. Vlad smirked.

“It appears that you broke a few of your bones getting out of your bindings.” Vlad added more pressure to Danny’s chest and causing him more pain. Danny grabbed hold of Vlad’s foot, got up from underneath him, and swung him across the room. Vlad caught himself midair. Danny charged after him and threw an ecto-charged punch. He missed and Vlad threw a punch back.

“It’s quite fascinating how your tolerance to pain increases when you’re fighting.” Vlad said as he was blocking Danny’s attacks. “I suppose mind is truly the most powerful part of the body, even if it is hardly used.”

Danny swung another punch. Vlad caught him by the throat and held him higher up in the air. Good old Vlad and his choke holds, Danny certainly did not miss this.

“Nothing has changed, has it Daniel?” Vlad said, “No matter how hard you try, no matter how strong you get, you are still no match for me. And now, your most cherished thing has become your greatest weakness. But not to worry, your weakness is disintegrating as we speak.”

Vlad turned his head over to Ophelia, Danny followed. Ophelia had lost all color in her skin, making her scars stand out more. Her hair turned completely black. If Danny opened her eyes, he expected them to be the same pale lavender. She stopped making sounds, her body fell limp, he could barely see her breathing.

Fear, sorrow, and love for his child filled him at the sight. One glance at Vlad replaced all that with pure rage. He grabbed both Vlad’s wrists and pulled them away from his throat. His hands glowed green and sparked with ecto-based electricity. Vlad let out a howl of pain while Danny shocked him.

“You’re right, we are no match for each other. I am not a coward, I am not a sociopath, I am not a bitter, lonely old man who takes out his frustrations on those weaker than him, and I am not a monster that haunts small children in their dreams and makes them terrified of the day he might return to hurt them once again. I am a hero, a husband, and above all, a father that would do anything to protect his child. And you, you are one seriously crazed up fruitloop!”

He sent one last shock through Vlad and them threw him straight to the machine that was draining Ophelia. He crashed right into it and caused it to explode. Danny covered his face and turned intangible to avoid any shrapnel. When he stopped hearing the clinking of metal hitting the ground, he uncovered his eyes to see. 

Vlad fell unconscious not too far away. His black rings turned him from Plasmius back to Masters. Danny knew that he wasn’t getting up any time soon. Danny looked around and couldn’t find that Waltz kid anywhere, the no good punk must’ve bolted as soon as he shot at him. Danny looked at Vlad once again and smiled. Finally, he got him. 

His small moment of victory disappeared and fear once again took over. 

“Ophelia!”

Danny flew over to the table. He zapped the straps holding her down. He tried to hold her and his wrists shot up in pain. Now that the fighting stopped, he was starting to feel in injuries. He gritted his teeth and held her up in a sitting position. He shook her. 

“Ophelia, wake up, Ophelia.”

She wasn’t moving. He tapped her face lightly. 

“Come on Ophelia, wake up!”

He kept shaking her, still nothing.

“Ophelia, please, show me that you’re still alive, wake up!”

His eyes pricked up in tears. Suddenly, Ophelia stirred. She grunted lightly, slowly but surely getting air in her lungs. Her eyes fluttered open. Her pale lavender locked into his in a somewhat distant stare.

“….Dad….?” she said hoarsely.

Danny smiled. Joy and relief overwhelmed him.

“Yes, it’s me. I’m here. It’s okay, everything’s going to be okay.”

* * *

 Ophelia opened her eyes slowly, blinking a few times to get the blurriness out of her vision. She heard beeping and whirring, had she not spent a good amount of her childhood she would’ve thought she was still in that horrible laboratory with Vlad and his backstabbing lackey. But she knew these sounds well, and was at ease to know that she was somewhere safe. This somewhere, from what Ophelia could see, was a large bedroom. She could sense that she was somewhere in the Ghost Zone, more specifically, her family’s realm. Medical equipment was scattered across the room, though most of these machines weren’t something a person could find in an average hospital. Most of these machines were design to transfuse ecto-energy and manipulate raw ectoplasm. They were used on ghosts on the rarest of the rare occasions that they had injured themselves so severely that they had depleted themselves of their own ghost energy, but it was most often used to treat Ophelia and her father. 

Her father…?  
“

Dad?” she called out, surprised by how hoarse her voice sounded. “Dad?”

She tried to sit up, but she soon found herself too weak to support her own weight. Right at that moment, her mother walked through the doorway. She saw what Ophelia was trying to do and rushed over to catch her right when her arms buckled under her. 

“Easy there, Phé,” her mother told her, “Try not to exert yourself, you’ve got a long way to recover. Here.”

She pulled the pillows from behind Ophelia and arranged them so they could prop her up into a sitting position. Gently, she eased Ophelia back into the pillows. The attempt to sit up on her own caused her to feel woozy, and so there were a few short moments of silence for her to get the room to stop spinning before she said anything.

“Mom, what happened? Where’s Dad? What happened to Vlad and Richie?”

Her mother said nothing. She smiled as she put one hand on top of Ophelia’s and another to her forehead. 

“It’s alright, sweetie, everything’s going to be alright now.”

“But what happened? Is Dad okay?”

“Your father is just fine, a few broken bones here and there but nothing we’re not used to.”

She felt a wave of relief. Once again, they narrowly escaped the clutches of the most dangerous man alive. Ophelia bit her lip.

“And what about Vlad?”

Instead of seeing her mother’s mood darken at the sound of that name, unbinding glee accompanied her motherly tenderness. Ophelia was a surprised, never was her mother so happy when it came to the subject of Vlad.

“That is the best news of all, Ophelia: we finally caught him.”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed bewildered. 

“What?”

“Your father took him down and handed him to the police. He’s finally being brought to justice, he’s going to prison for the rest of his existence.”

Ophelia could not understand those string of words, they seemed so foreign to her. Vlad “Plasmius” Masters, the man that had terrorized her family for longer than she’s been alive, the man who killed her grandparents and put her through unimaginable torment, the man who had taken away from her countless of well-slept nights, that man was finally captured.

After all this time, Ophelia was finally safe. 

“It’s over?” she whispered. 

Her mother pulled her into a hug.

“It’s over.”

* * *

 

 Danny had a total of two broken wrists, two legs broken in two places each, three broken ribs and a concussion. He was confined to his bed in a body cast for the next few weeks, putting him on sick leave both from astronaut duty and crime fighting duty. He had been in the cast before, several times in fact. Back before he was a father, he would carelessly fly around and fight whomever he please….and get all two-hundred and ten broken at least once. He hated wearing the casts, having lost the ability to sit still long ago. The only bright side was his wife tending to him during the recovery. But now the poor woman had to take care of two indisposed halfas.

The doctors told him and Sam that she’ll make a full recovery as long as she conserves her energy and get plenty of rest. She had to stay within the Ghost Zone during her recovery, as the ecto-energy that makes up the whole dimension should be able to help restore the energy levels she lost from Vlad’s laser. Sam told him that they would have no problem getting Ophelia to follow the doctors’ orders, as she wasn’t even strong enough to sit up on her own and could only stay awake for a few minutes. It didn’t really bother him that he couldn’t see his kid, as long as she was alive and well he was happy.

Another thing made him happy, too. Something that made this whole ordeal worth while.

“I defeated Vlad Plasmius.” Danny said while Sam fed him his dinner. 

“Yes, honey, yes you did.”

“Sam, I just defeated Vlad Plasmius, the world’s greatest villain. The guy had made our lives miserable, caused irreparable damage to our family, nearly caused the destruction of the _planet_ that he himself could not fix, and now he’s being brought to justice for everything he’s done.”

“And Ophelia can finally sleep at night. I swear, I think all this sleeping is her making up for lost time more than from her condition.”

Danny smiled.

“I’m glad. She deserves some peace after all of this.”

“Dad?”

Sam turned, Danny looked over to the doorway. Ophelia stood there, using the frame to hold herself up. Sam got up out of her seat and raced right towards her. 

“Ophelia, you shouldn’t be up on your own.”

“I wanted to see Dad.”

Sam helped walk her to the chair she had just left at Danny’s side. Once she saw that Ophelia was seated and comfortable. She went to get a chair from the other side of the room to set right beside her child.

Ophelia said nothing as she looked at Danny. Unsure of what was going on in her mind, and having very little options in terms of body movement, he only smiled back at her. 

“Hey, kiddo, how are you feeling?” was his reply.

“Clearly better than you.” She whispered, he could hear a slight quiver in her reply. It was then he remembered: Ophelia had never seen him in a full body cast before. In fact, he wasn’t sure if she ever saw him in anything worse than a sprain. Ophelia’s pale lavender eyes glistened as tears started to form.

“This is my fault,” she cried, “I should’ve know that there was something wrong about Richie. I shouldn’t have given him that chance, or fought him back when he grabbed me or something.”

Danny had yet another reason to hate the full body cast: he couldn’t hug his child. In his place, Sam pulled Ophelia into her arms and stroke her hair to console her.

“Shh, it’s okay honey,” Sam cooed, “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes it was!” Ophelia cried from under her mother’s shoulder. “I nearly got the both of us killed. Now Dad’s hurt and I can’t go three feet without getting jelly legs!”

“Ophelia, really, it’s fine,” Danny told her. “I wore casts more than shoes before you were born, this is nothing.” 

Ophelia kept sobbing. She was pretty far from consolable. 

“I’m so sorry!”

“You shouldn’t be.” Sam said as she wiped away the tears from her daughter’s eyes, “Ophelia, you’re only fourteen years old. You shouldn’t make yourself responsible for everything bad that happens in the family. We’re the parents. We’re the ones who are at fault if something goes wrong. We should’ve seen Richard for what he is the moment we laid eyes on him.”

Ophelia sniffled and looked up at her mother.

“No Mom,” she said, “I should’ve seen it.”

“How could you be able to see him any clearer than us?”

Her eyes flickered as she tries to find an argument that will get Sam to understand. Danny remembered what Vlad said back at the lab. Could it be true?

“Ophelia, is there something you should tell us?”

Ophelia’s eyes flicked to him. She looked like a poor little fawn caught in the headlights of a car. He knew that if she had enough power, she would be fading by now.

“What do you mean?” she said with a hint of guilt.

“Back at the lab, Vlad told me that you had a special gift that no one knows about. How you can see a person’s true essence. Is that true?”

Ophelia looked down to the floor. He took that as a yes. So did Sam.

“What?” Sam exclaimed in surprise, “You can read people and you never told us? Honey, why wouldn’t you tell us?”

“You wouldn’t be able to help me even if I told you.” Ophelia said with a bitter edge. “What’s the point in telling someone if there’s nothing they could do about it?”

“Um, because we’re your parents and we have a right to know about these things?”

 “No, actually, you don’t. It’s my life and my body, I can dispense and withhold information about it whenever I damn well please.”

“So if you start coughing up blood, we don’t have the right to know about it?”

“I’m not coughing up blood.”

“No, I’m sorry, how foolish of me, you’re only recovering from near disintegration.” 

Ophelia said nothing. She wrapped her arms around her knees, her eyes still fixed to the floor.

“I’m just scared, okay? I’m afraid if people knew what I can do it would hurt me. I mean, as soon as I split myself in two I had to sign that stupid contract. And Vlad…. He only _looked_ at me and Grandma and Grandpa were dead. I didn’t wanna know how this could be used against me, but now I do. Now any guy can get whatever information they want from me so long as they can manipulate my emotions in just the right way.”

She leaned on Sam’s shoulder as another wave of tears came over her. Sam rubbed her shoulder to comfort her. 

“There, there, you’re way too tired for this kind of excitement. We’ll save this discussion for when you’re stronger. Let’s get you back to bed.”

Sam helped Ophelia and walked her out of the room. Ophelia turned back to Danny. She was still too weak for her eyes to glow, but there was a shimmer there that broke his heart with the rest of his body.

“I’m really sorry I caused all this, and no matter what you say I _did_ cause all this. Feel better Daddy.”

With that, she turned to leave the room. Sam and Danny exchanged a glance before she left. Yes, they were all happy that Vlad is finally captured and could no longer do them more harm. But now they have more things to worry about, like what they were going to do with Ophelia.

* * *

 

 After a week, Ophelia had recovered enough to return to the Human Plane. A couple of days after that, she was well enough to go back to school. She was given most of her homework while she was out, but she had five tests to make up for after school that she would have to study like mad for. Owen found her before she can hide into the deepest corner of the library.

“Hey Phé, I missed you. Feeling any better?”

Ophelia looked at him with solemn eyes. Silently, she dropped her books and gave him a hug. Owen was so surprised that couldn’t stop himself from blushing.

“Um, what’s this about?”

“You were right about Richie, you were right the whole time. I should’ve listened to you, I should’ve never even dated him in the first place.”

Owen was stuck in a surprised stupor. Ophelia pried herself off of him and smiled. 

“You’re the best friend I can ask for.”

She picked up her books and shut her locker. Owen managed to snap out of his stupor when she started to walk away.

“Ophelia, wait.”

He put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She turned, her attention was all on him. He felt an immense pressure on him. He was choking on the mere thought of the words he wanted to say. He needed to say it to her, now or never.

He took a breath.

“I, um, have to confess something. You see, I had no idea that Richard was a jerk, I just didn’t like him. And I didn’t realize why I didn’t like him until recently….I was, sort of, jealous of him.”

Ophelia raised an eyebrow.

“Jealous?”

“Yeah, I saw him with you and kept on thinking of how nice it would be if I was him….how nice it would be if I was the one with you.”

A pale flash went across her eyes.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I’m a clueless idiot who probably doesn’t deserve it but would really want to be you boyfriend.”

Ophelia was quiet again. She bit her lip. It sent Owen into a panic.

“It’s totally okay if you say no-“

“Owen”

“I’m totally fine if you want to stay just friends-“

“Owen”

“It’s totally ridiculous for me to tell you this after all the crazy that’s been thrown at you. Let’s just forget this ever happened and go on with our lives-“

“Owen! Yes!”

Owen took a pause.

“W-what?”

“Yes, Owen, I’ll go out with you.” Ophelia laughed, “Jeez, you really do worry too much.”

Owen couldn’t believe his ears.

“Really? Yes!”

 He was overjoyed. He was so happy that he picked her up and spun her around (she was surprisingly light). Now he knew why those guys in those cheesy old romance movies. Ophelia couldn’t help but laugh.

“Took you long enough.” She said under her breath.


	17. Season Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prologue

No one really knows where he came from, or who he was in life. Some weren't even sure if he was ever alive to start with. Some thought he was those ever rare occasions where a collective mass of ectoplasm gained sentience and made itself into a ghost. All anyone knew was that he was that he was the very embodiment of power in the Ghost Zone.

Pariah Dark was not made the King of Ghosts by the will of his fellow dead, he took that title by force. He put some of his power into his two relics, the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire, to prove that only he was fit to rule the dead. Only he was strong enough to contain the energies within those two objects, those who tried would burn away and become part of the Ghost Zone, as stardust is part of the cosmos in the world of the living.

Somewhere on the way, he let the power get the better of him, and his subjects could take his cruel tyranny no longer. And so the people banded together the strongest of ghosts, and together they brought down their King. They drew his powers from him and made it so that only when both his relics were in his possessions that he could rule the Ghost Zone once more. These taken from him, Pariah Dark was locked away in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, the only prison fit to contain a ghost of his greatness. And for thousands of years, the Ghost King slept. Over time, those brave ghosts disappeared, and their names long forever lost. Pariah's kingdom crumbled and fell away, and he himself became nothing more than an old legend known to all who crossed over into the afterlife.

Then came a man, a man with powers of both the living and the dead. This man, in attempt to steal his relics and claim the powers of the Ghost King for his own, freed the King himself and he sought out this pathetic creature to return one of his relics. The whole of the Ghost Zone fled to the Human Plane, and a part of the Earth was claimed in the name of the King. He soon had both his relics in his possession, and sought out to conquer the worlds of both the dead and the living.

Then came a boy, a young boy who wielded the powers of both the living and the dead. This young lad sought to protect his home and fought the King. Almost at the cost of his life, the boy defeated Pariah Dark, and returned him to his Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. The aforementioned man succeeded in procuring the King's relics, and gained an alliance with His Majesty's right hand man. Soon the man fled the face of the Earth, and the relics were lost to both worlds.

To this day, no one knows where the man had hidden the relics or what he had planned to do with them in the first place. And to this day, the King sleeps. Despite his predicament, Pariah Dark is still the King of Ghosts and the most feared being of all the realms. No one knows the true extent of his powers, or what would happen if he were to be freed once more. And so his prison, formerly his palace, is heavily guarded, as to make sure the dreaded day of his escape will never come.


	18. Dani & Val

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain Gray and the Ghost Zone's newest Warden work together to recover a stolen artifact.

Pariah’s Keep: the most dangerous and most heavily guarded place in the Ghost Zone. Rightfully so, since it was once the home of the most dangerous being in existence.  Now, he is in his prison, where he shall sleep eternally. The time is midnight, on the Human Plane the people sleep as their smog-filled skies suffocate the stars and dim the moon. Here in the Ghost Zone, here in Pariah’s Keep, a few officers of GZPD stand vigil in the old throne room. There is no throne in the throne room now, nor has there been for thousands of years. In place of a throne, there sits a sarcophagus. It is the very reason why the GZPD guard the Keep under the orders of the Observants.

It is one of the most mundane of jobs a ghost cop could ever be assigned to.

The oldest complaint of the guards is that no one in their right mind would ever want to break in to Pariah’s Keep. The most valuable relics of the King, the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire, has been lost for twenty-four years. No one in their right minds would ever go near the sleeping King, no one who knew who (or what) he was. But thanks to some mutant and his idiotic scheme for power, the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep must be guarded at all times to make sure the Ghost Zone does not suffer from yet another act of foolishness. So they sit around, prepared for an attack that everyone knew would never happen.  
Or so they thought.

It is at this time of midnight that a human busted through the door of the throne room. The guards were surprised, but not completely thrown off. They instinctively shot at the human, who dodged with such ease that it was almost insulting. She drew out her guns as if she was the reincarnation of Annie Oakley. She did not miss either of the guards and they fell to the floor. She walked up the steps leading to the Sarcophagus, feeling no need to rush. She made it to the top and looked up to the Sarcophagus. She smiled.

On her back was what would appear to be a ray gun. She withdrew it and poised it at the Sarcophagus.

By the time reinforcements had arrived, the human was gone. And so was the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep.

* * *

 Captain Gray had yet another irritating night of patrol with her goddaughter. To both of their misfortunes, the Bystander Contract had a clause for when Danny gets injured. If his injuries caused a prolonged absence of duty, Ophelia would have to take his place until he made a full recovery.

“So this is what you guys do all night?” Ophelia would ask as she floated beside Valerie.  
  
“Pretty much.”

Ophelia’s eyes would glaze over and glow a dull pallor.  
  
“Bored…..Can we go home now?”  
  
“Honey, we’ve only been out for an hour. We have to stay out here and keep an eye out for criminal activity. It can take all night, you never know when-“  
  
“BORED!”

And so Valerie would come home with a massive headache that would stay with her half the day. She loved her godchild like she was her one of her own, but she couldn’t take another night. She couldn’t tell who was worse, Ophelia or Danny.

She made it to her office that morning without a problem. She hoped she would get a quiet day to catch up on her paperwork. Nobody in the station bothered telling her that she had a visitor, so she was surprised to find someone in her office sitting at her seat with her feet propped up on her desk. A surprise that turned into a happy one when she found that someone to be the new Warden and Head of the GZPD.

“Hey Little D”

“Hey Val,” said Dani, “Hope you don’t mind that I let myself in.”

“Not at all, I love having you around. You’re the least annoying halfa I have to deal with.”

“That’s because you have to deal with me the least.”

“That just means you’re the only halfa smart enough to stay out of my way.”

Valerie shooed Dani out of her seat and have her take one of the chairs across from her.

“So, what brings you here to the Human Plane?”

“This” Dani slapped a file on the desk. Valerie looked at it curiously and picked it up to read. Dani went ahead and explained what was in the file. “Some idiot broke in to Pariah’s Keep and made my men look like even bigger idiots. The Observants are breathing down my neck and are having me deal with this myself. I’ve only been Warden for a couple of months and these guys are already blaming me for the damage Walker has done.”

Valerie looked over a line in the case file twice to see if she read it right.

“Wait, this says that the woman stole the _Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep_? The thing that is imprisoning the King of All Ghosts is _missing_? No wonder the Observants are after you.”

Dani gave her a peeved look.  
  
“He’s not that bad is he? I mean, I’ve heard stories about him but they’re only exaggerations, right?”

Valerie shook her head and smiled.

“Sometimes I forget just how old you are. Pariah was released a little before your time. I saw first hand just how powerful he is. In fact, everyone in Amity has.”

“Especially Danny, who threw him back into the Sarcophagus and became the ‘Savior of the Ghost Zone’. Everyone on my side of the duoverse has heard the story at least ten times in their afterlife.”

“Bottom line is he’s dangerous. If he breaks loose from his prison, all hell is going out with him. So you have to go catch this guy and get the Sarcophagus back.”

“Not me, _we_. The perp’s human, and since this is a human committing a crime against ghosts, it is a GHCU case as well as GZPD.”

Valerie’s gave her own peeved expression.

“Yay, just what I need, more work. Do we at least have an ID on the perp?”

“Something like that. The cops on duty gave a basic description of the chick.” Dani rifled through the file until she found the page she was looking for. “Red hair, blue eyes, average height.”

“That along with the tactical skills and mastery of ghost weaponry describes Vivian Redd.”

Dani looked up from the file to Valerie with a curious expression.  
  
“Redd? That crazy assassin lady? Don’t you guys have her put away?”

“That’s what I thought too, but they should’ve notified me if she had gotten out.”

Valerie picked up the phone and dialed in a few numbers. Dani snorted.

“Sorry, I almost forgot how chaotic things are out here on the Human Plane. When a ghost gets out, we are on it like that” she snapped her fingers. Valerie glowered at her.

“Yeah, well, we would be more organized too if we had all of eternity to figure out our – Hello? This is Captain Valerie Gray of GHCU over in Amity Park. May I speak with the Warden please?....Hello, Mr. Henderson?...Hey Jeremy, this is Valerie. I’m calling about one of your convicts. A Miss Vivian “Vendetta” Redd?...Yes, that’s her. I wanted to check up and see…Oh, really? And no one thought to tell me?.... What do you mean it wasn’t important? She tried to kill my goddaughter, _twice!_.....I understand that Masters is put away, but that doesn’t mean she’s not a dangerous woman. And it’s no excuse for you to slack off and let her escape. You better whip that prison into shape, Jeremy, you’re only job is to keep the humans from getting out….That’s because I do my job well, unlike you…Listen clearly: you let this happen again, and I’ll be helping the State hand pick your replacement.”

She slammed the phone down. She pinched the bridge of her nose, the conversation did nothing to alleviate her headache. Dani leaned into the desk, propping her head up with her hands.  
  
“I’m guessing she escaped?”

“She’s been gone for a week and no one bothered giving me the heads up.”  
  
“The girl must work fast to already have an employer.”

Valerie looked up from her hand.

“Like someone actually _wanted_ that thing.”

“Someone had to if they hired the best human-ghost mercenary. First we need to find Redd, then we get her to give up her employer. First and foremost, how do find her?”

Valerie smiled and opened up her computer.

“I think I know just the place.”

* * *

 

 In the shadow of the shining community of Amity Park is the city of Elmerton. The town gave one the feeling of abandonment and despair when setting foot there. The fondest memory Valerie had from her time living here was moving out to go to college and eventually the Police Academy. Dani only had one memory of this town.  
  
“Hey, isn’t that where I saved your life and you captured me to hand over to Vlad?” she asked with teasing implications. Valerie’s jaw clenched at the memory.  
  
“Yeah, that’s the place.”  
  
“Back then, did you think you would ever end up working with someone like me?”

“No, I was mostly thinking of ways to kill you and Danny.”

Dani looked at her bewildered. Valerie rolled her eyes.

“Come on, it was back before I really knew you guys. I don’t even think like that anymore.”

“Still, it’s weird to hear.”

Dani and Valerie landed at the door of an old, abandoned warehouse. Valerie let her jet sled disappear into her shoes and Dani’s white rings turned her from Phantom to Fenton. Valerie knocked on the door.

“This place is the largest human-ghost black market trade in the Great Lakes area. Redd’s bound to have been a customer here, or there should at least be someone who knows her.”

The door opened as far as the padlocked chains would go. A face concealed in shadow was shown from the other side of the door.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, we’re here to salvage the architecture.”

“And what is there to salvage?”

“I heard the _armory_ is quite valuable.”

The eye of the shadowy face looked from Valerie to Dani and back.

“Sorry, the armory has been cleaned out.” And he slammed the door in their faces.

Dani looked over to Valerie annoyed.  
  
“What was that?”  
  
“He must’ve thought we looked suspicious. We’ll have to find another way in.”

“Tch, I’ll show you another way in.”

Valerie could see Dani’s opacity fade a little, her tell-tale sign of turning intangible.

“Dani, wait!” she warned, but unfortunately the ghost clone did not listen. She went through the wall only to get shocked and thrown back a few feet. As she pulled herself up, Valerie stood over her with her hands on her hips. Dani wondered it this was the same look she gave to her kids when they did something stupid.

“They place trades in anti-ghost weaponry, they’d be stupid _not_ to have a ghost shield.”

“Great” Dani grumbled, “Then I’ll have to do this the hard way.”

She walked over and knocked on the door. Again the door opened and again the face appeared.  
  
“Can I help you?”

She didn’t say anything. Before the man could react, Dani flew through the small crack in the doorway and closed the door behind them. Valerie could hear the familiar sounds of punches, kicks, and a ghost ray or two. She made a note to herself not to include this in her report. After a minute or two, the door pulled open. A hand came out with a key and unlocked the padlock. The chains fell to the ground and the doors were allowed to pull apart even more with Dani smirking happily on the other side. Valerie crossed her arms and gave her an un-amused glare.

“I don’t know if you remember, but police brutality is frowned upon in this universe.”

“Oh come on Val, what happened to the Queen Badass who’d shoot first and ask questions never?”

“She grew up, got married, a good job, two kids, a divorce, and promoted to a rank that can’t afford black marks.”

Dani rolled her eyes.  
  
“So she turned boring?”

“Hey, we can’t all go tramping up around the country and do whatever we feel like eleven months out of the year.”

“Whatever, can we go in now?”

Valerie raised her hand up in surrender.

“Fine.”

* * *

 

 After a long ride down in an elevator that Dani thought belonged in a mineshaft, the two found themselves in the market. Val was not exaggerating, this place was huge. It made Dani think of an indoor flea market, if flea markets sold ghost contraband. Not only did it sell every anti-ghost weapon that she had ever heard of, but it sold fake IDs and birth certificates for ghosts who wanted to pose as humans. It even sold raw ectoplasm, which Dani knew was the hardest thing to come by in the Human Plane. Trying to find any information here was going to be difficult.

“Okay, so how are we suppose to find anything about Redd here?” Dani asked.

Val gave her a sly smile that reminded her of the huntress she first met a long time ago.

“Follow me”

And so she did. She followed her all the way down to a stand that was selling ghost artifacts (Dani recognized a couple of them as being reported stolen in GZ).

“Yo, Roman!” Val shouted. A head stuck out from behind the stand. He was a ghost, with green skin and red eyes. His black hair made Dani think at first that the guy had never seen a brush in his after life (reminding her greatly of her little sister), but after a second look she realized that his hair was actually styled to look that way.

“Ah, Captain Gray, how can I help you this fine and friendly day?” He then spotted Dani. He propped his head up on the table by his elbow and flashed her a smiled that bugged her greatly. “Or, more importantly, how may I help _you_ , pretty miss?”

“The name’s Danielle Fenton,” Dani told him with a bite, “Warden Danielle Fenton,  Head of the GZPD.”

Roman’s eyes widened and he stood straight up like a soldier at attention.  
  
“Warden! Wh-what brings you to the Land of the Living?”

Dani smiled. Good, the guy at least knows who not to screw around with.  
  
“We are here to track a woman, perhaps you’ve heard of her? She goes by the name Vendetta.”  
  
His eyes seemed to bug out of his head at the name.

“I’m not quite sure I have.”

“I think you have, in fact I believe you’ve met her. I believe you know where she is right now.”

Roman bit his lip. And Dani thought ghosts couldn’t sweat.

“What are you afraid of? It’s not like she can kill you. It’s not like she can throw you in jail like I can. How about you be a good little boy and tell us where Vendetta is.”

“I don’t exactly know where she is, but I know what she’s working on.”

“Tell us.”

“Okay, there’s this guy. A human guy. He likes to collect ghostly artifacts, he actually frequents my stand from time to time.”

“Does he have a name?” asked Val

“Adam Worth.”

Val seemed to recognize the name. Dani raised an eyebrow.

“Who?”

* * *

 

 “Adam Worth” Valerie pulled up the file on the computer in her office. “He’s the head of an art-smuggling ring, though no one’s able to catch him, let alone convict him. It has been rumored that he has also been smuggling ghostly artifacts from the Ghost Zone, but it’s news to me that he actually keeps them for himself.”

“Alright, so he’s a human who likes ghost stuff,” Dani said dismissively, “But why would he hire Redd to steal the Sarcophagus? If he has a decent knowledge of GZ he should know that that thing is dangerous.”

“To humans, anything involving ghosts are dangerous. Only the people who experienced Pariah’s escape could understand the magnitude of the danger they are putting themselves in.”

“So to him, the Sarcophagus is just another valuable treasure of the dead?”

Valerie shrugged.  
  
“I guess Pariah Dark is similar to King Tut’s Curse to humans: just another silly superstition to keep people from stealing valuable items. That’s not important at the moment, what’s important is that we need to find out where the Sarcophagus is being held.”

“Humans are idiots, he probably has it somewhere in his house.”

“But we can’t get a warrant to search the house based on your assumptions.”  
  
“No, but we can go in to ask a few questions.”  
  
Valerie raised her eyebrow at her with an unamused glare.  
  
“No”

“What do you mean no?”  
  
“I know what you’re planning, and I say no. No, we are not going into the house to question him; no, you will not sneak off to go look for the Sarcophagus and no, you will not get me in trouble when you get caught.”

“Jeez, Val, who do you think you’re talking to here, Ophelia? I know the rules, and I have the Observants breathing down my neck to make sure I follow those rules. I’m just saying that we should go in and see what we can get off of him. Perhaps we’ll run into some probable cause while we’re there.”

“I hope you’re not implying anything.”  
  
“Come on, Val, you have no faith in me. I promise, I will be right at your side when we get there, okay?”

Valerie’s stared at her blankly. She had known Dani as long as she knew the rest of the Fenton family. She knew she was a free spirit, unable to stay at one spot for more than a week or so. The shady spook who broke the laws just as easily as she would uphold them. She had a trick up her sleeve, Valerie could just feel it. Sadly, the best she could do is go with her before Dani can figure a less than legal way to get into the house.

“Oh, fine,” Valerie said with a bitter reluctance, “But no tricks.”

Dani held up her hands and showed her straight, uncrossed fingers.  
  
“Scout’s honor.”

“Were you even a scout?”

Dani’s wide eyes blinked that Valerie instinctively read as feigned innocence.

“You have to be an actual scout to say that? I thought it was just a figure of speech.”

* * *

 The home of Adam Worth sat at the edge of Amity Park, not too far away from the richer side of town.  His house did not draw attention upon itself, nor of its owner, but it was far from humble.  Not for only one person to live in, at least. On the way to the door, Dani checked for a cellar door for something to confirm there was a basement, or an attic. She couldn’t see one, but she knew it didn’t mean there wasn’t one.

They stood on the porch and before she knocked on the door, Val told Dani:

“Remember, you are not to leave my side for _anything,_ and let me ask the questions, please.”

Dani rolled her eyes and agreed to Val’s terms. Val knocked on the door and a man answered. He couldn’t have been any older than Val, with maple brown hair and eyes a darker shade behind his wire-framed glasses. He seemed like a nice guy, but then again the best of crooks always do. It isn’t until you’ve been duped enough times and grown a thick skin could you see the kind ones for what they really were.  

“Can I help you, ladies?” said the man.

“Are you Adam Worth?” asked Dani.

“Yes”

Valerie showed him her badge, and Dani immediately followed her cue.

“I’m Captain Valerie Gray, Commanding Officer of Amity Park’s Ghost-Human Crimes Unit, and this is Danielle Fenton, Warden of the Ghost Zone. We’d like to ask you a few questions, if you would be so kind?”

A ripple of fear, an ever so small one, went across his face before quickly hiding it in a kind smile.  
  
“What is this about, am I suspected of committing a crime?”

“No, but you can help us with a case.” Said Dani. “You see, there has been a theft in the Ghost Zone and we suspect that humans are behind it. We believe, being an expert in art and ghostly artifacts, you can help us find who would want it.”

Worth smiled. He thinks he’s getting away with it.

“Sure, of course, come in. Anything to help Amity’s finest, as well as the Ghost Zone’s.”

He opened the door wider to let the women in. Dani couldn’t help but smile, leaving an invisible duplicate to go searching. She was going to stay by her side, but she never promised she wouldn’t be at two places at once. They always forget that she could duplicate too.

* * *

 While Val and Dani sat in the living room being offered a drink by Worth, Dani’s duplicate had already checked the attic space and was making her way down to the basement. So far, the guy looked clean. There was nothing lying around that she immediately recognized as stolen artifacts from the Ghost Zone or the Human Plane (although, she never paid much attention to the arts and history of either worlds). Maybe humans aren’t that dumb, she thought. She went into the basement and looked around. It was a typical rec-room setting found in any other house in America, save perhaps the far from cheap furnishings and a bar with liquors older than herself. Dani stood behind the bar and propped her head against the counter.

“So if it’s not here, then it has to be in one of his galleries.” Dani said to herself, “And there’s no way we can get a warrant on the absolute nothing I found.”

Dani dug her fingers in  her hair and pulled her head down. It will take forever to find grounds for a search warrant , and by that time he would’ve sold the Sarcophagus or moved it somewhere out of reach. The Ghost King would be gone forever like his relics.

Great, just great.

Dani lifted her head and walked out of the basement. Then she noticed the light switches by the staircase. Two on/off switches and a dimmer knob. She flipped the first two switches and the whole room lit up, but nothing happened when she turned the knob. There was one click to let her know the lights should be on, but then there was a second click and she felt the knob loosen for her to pull outwards.

Interesting

She turned the knob again, feeling and hearing the resistance similar to winding up a music box. She pushed the knob back down. Just as she did, the wall opposite her folded away in sections to show another room.

“Okay, somebody’s watched way too many spy movies.”

Dani walked to the opened wall and found a freight elevator on the other side. She didn’t turn it on as she had a feeling it would make a sound. Instead, she phased through the floor and floated down the shaft. It was a long way down, she felt, but it could have been a trick from the pitch black surrounding her. All she could see was a foot or two by the light of her own ghostly glow, not enough to see any of the walls. Her perception of time was a little distorted, so the Dani in the living room would compulsively check the grandfather clock behind Worth to check the time. What felt like an hour to reach the illuminated bottom of the shaft was only five minutes.

At the bottom of the shaft was a large room. It looked like she had stumbled into a room in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. All around, there were things in glass cases. She only recognized a few of the things from articles and case files, but she knew all of them were ghost artifacts. Stolen ghost artifacts.

She went around to check every room in the underground gallery. There in the furthest back room of the gallery was a room just for the Sarcophagus. Pressed against the wall opposite the doorway, the large coffin stretched out from floor to ceiling.

Dani could not contain herself. She was bouncing with joy.  
  
“Yes! I knew humans were idiots!”

Just as she was savoring her victory, a shot was fired and the Phantom duplicate dissolved into a puff of green smoke.

* * *

Upstairs in the living room, Dani and Valerie went from questioning Worth to exchanging pleasantries with him. Dani asked as many questions about his profession as she could think of. Worth thought nothing of it and answered all her questions with such detail and pride that Valerie assumed that he loved talking about himself and his work yet rarely got the chance to do so. It made Valerie think he was some kind of nerd back in high school, or at least grew into one. With every question Dani asked, Valerie looked at her with more and more suspicion. She knew Dani was buying time for something, but what? Suddenly, out of nowhere, the questions stopped.    
“That is very interesting, Mr. Worth,” Dani said with a polite smile, “But if you don’t mind, I need to have a word with Detective Gray in the other room.”

Before Worth could respond, Dani got up from her seat and pulled Valerie by the arm out of hers. Valerie followed Dani out of the room. Once they were in the hallway and out of Worth’s earshot, Dani’s poker face fell.

“I found it.” Dani told Val in a hushed tone.

“You found it?” Valerie asked. She became angry when she knew what Dani meant. “Oh no! What did you do!”

Dani held out her hands defensively.

“Nothing, I promised to be right by your side when we questioned him and I was!”

It was true, she was right there next to her. As far as she knew, no ghost, not even a half ghost had x-ray vision, and it’s not like….

Valerie growled and face-palmed herself.

“You duplicated yourself, didn’t you!”

“Yes, but I found it, and a whole lot of other stolen treasure. But we’re in trouble, someone found me and shot me, our cover is blown. We have to get out and get reinforcements before he finds out an moves everything.”

“How are we going to do that? We still don’t have grounds for a warrant.”  
  
“We don’t need a warrant! I saw everything and someone just shot me! I think that’s enough.”

Before Valerie could argue. She heard the familiar click and whine of a charging gun and felt the barrel of it on the back of her head.

“You two ladies aren’t going anywhere.” said Worth from behind her.

Before Valerie or even Worth could do anything, Dani caught her in a bear hug. She felt tingly. There was the sound of gunfire and Valerie saw the beam shoot across the hall over her head. That’s how she realized the two of them were sinking through the floor.

She had been intangible quite a few times, fighting with and against ghosts for a living since she was a teenager. Going through solid matter felt like walking though a curtain of mist, except the curtain was made from some kind of gas that made your skin tingle. And so Dani dragged her through that curtain and into one large cloud of earth. Right when she was afraid her friend was planning on pulling through the planet’s core, they finally stopped in some room underground.

Valerie looked around agape. She was able to identify every single object in that room, down to a rusted spoon in a glass case, as an artifact in the GZPD’s case file of missing or stolen objects.

“Where are we?” Valerie asked.

“The treasure vault,” Dani told her, “Now come on!”

She tugged on Valerie’s arm and dragged her across the room. They probably went through seven different rooms until Dani took her to one with the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep standing over them. It was a lot bigger than she imagined.

“Okay, we found it. What are we supposed to do now?”

“First, we’re getting this out of here as soon as possible.” Said Dani. Two white rings transformed her into Phantom and her hands started to glow. “I’ll open a portal and we can-“

A pink ray was shot at Dani and knocked her to the ground.

“Didn’t I already shoot you?”

Valerie turned to the doorway. There stood Vivian Redd, with pink smoke trickling out of her gun. Instinctively, Valerie pulled her own gun and aimed it at her.

“Vivian ‘Vendetta’ Red, you’re under arrest for escaping prison, the theft of the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, and the assault of the Warden of the Ghost Zone, if she’ll press charges.”

“Of course I’m pressing charges!” Dani cried, “The bitch just shot me twice!”

“I’m afraid there isn’t much potency to your words,” Redd said with a prideful tone. She slung her gun back onto her shoulder and aimed it at Valerie before she continued. “For you see, I don’t see you getting out any time soon. Not alive, anyway.”

“That sounds like a threat to me.”

“Really? I see it more as a fact.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Valerie saw Dani standing next to her with glowing hands aimed at Redd.

“How do you expect to get rid of us, Redd?” said Dani, “It’s the two of us against only one of you.”

Redd gave them nothing but an arrogant smirk.

“I’ve had worse odds. I believe in quality over quantity. Here we have one highly skilled mercenary trained in ghost and human hunting against one measly halfa clone and a vigilante gone soft.”

Valerie’s face became as dark as the bruise on her pride.  
  
“I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I have not gone soft.”

Redd laughed.

“Oh please, if you weren’t such a goodie two-shoes you would have found me a lot earlier. In fact, if it wasn’t for Orphan Black here you wouldn’t have found me at all. You have been tracking me down at a snail pace to keep your ass out of trouble. You went soft the day you clipped on the badge.”

Valerie’s reflex betrayed her, and she pulled the trigger. Redd managed to dodge the laser despite the heavy arsenal and only had a few inches singed off her hair. Redd tumbled into a crouching position and aimed her gun and the two of them. She fired a shot straight at Valerie but it was blocked by a green energy field. The field shrank into a barricade that she and Dani could shoot from and they crouched behind them.  
  
“Quick thinking.” Valerie told Dani.  
  
“What, you think I would’ve survived twenty-four years on the road and under contract if I was slow?” Dani replied.

Valerie gave her a smile before she reached over the blockade and started shooting at Redd, who was now hiding behind a wall by the doorway. After a few shots, both Redd and Valerie hid behind their barriers.  
  
“This is no good,” said Valerie, “We won’t get anywhere this way. Do you think you can send a duplicate over there and grab her from behind?”  
  
“I can, but I’m not good at multi-tasking my powers between my duplicates. If I try to sneak around, it might weaken the shield. If I have to use force, you’re better off hiding behind styrofoam.”  
  
The shield absorbed a shot aimed at their backs.  
  
“Come on, girls,” Said Redd from across the room. “Don’t tell me you’re getting tired already.”  
  
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take.” Valerie told Dani. Dani gave a nod. Valerie couldn’t see anything, but she knew Dani had just sent out the duplicate. She smiled and they both looked over the barricade with guns and glowing hands aimed at Redd.

“Tired? We were just warming up.” Valerie shouted at her.

“In fact, we were going to ask you if you were tired.” Dani called with her. “Or if you forgot your glasses. The only thing worse than your aim is your haircut.”  
Redd sneered.  
  
“Dani, come on,” said Valerie, “You know better than to insult a woman’s hair style. Not when her choice in names are a lot worse.”

The girls ducked just in time and saw the shot fly over their heads. Valerie smiled and continued.  
  
“I mean, seriously, Vendetta? Who do you seek revenge on? The employer who gave you your fifteen minutes just to make you look like a fool to the world?”  
  
“Nope,” answered Dani, “She wouldn’t still be working for him if she did. Maybe it’s Danny, since she and her friends were nothing more than pawns in a petty act against him.”  
  
“Hmm, that did make her seem a little pathetic, but I wouldn’t waste twenty-four years and make up a codename for that.”

“Maybe she hates you.”

“Me? Why me? They were my competition and I lost to them.”  
  
“Maybe she’s jealous of how well you came out. I mean, look at you. You are the youngest captain and commanding officer who helped create the first Ghost-Human Crimes Unit. You married a good guy and have two lovely children. You may not see them as much as you want to, but at least they are safe and they love you. And what does Redd have to show for herself? She gets humiliated in front of the whole world and has to make a living doing other people’s dirty work.”

They heard Redd growling from across the room. They looked over once again. Redd was trying very hard to mask her anger, but Valerie could still see it. She was livid.

“That’s it. You two lost your living privileges.”

She pushed a few buttons on her weapon before she aimed it back at them. There came the familiar high-pitched whine of it charging. The barrel of the gun shining a blinding white, barely able to contain the energy inside. Valerie lost her breath. Redd set the weapon too high, dangerously high. Whatever the blast would hit would go off like a grenade. Perfect way to destroy your living enemies and cripple the ones that were already dead. But there was a reason no one made an ecto-gun that high.

“Are you crazy!” Valerie called out. “If you don’t kill us, you’ll kill yourself if you don’t pull the trigger!”

Redd only smiled.

“Lucky for me I’m not a patient person.”  
  
She was about to pull the trigger when green sparks came off her body. She let out a shriek and fell to the ground. Dani’s duplicate stood behind her, green smoke trickled out of her hand from shocking her. She smiled at her victory.

Valerie was not smiling.  
  
“Dani, the gun!”

Dani’s eyes went wide, her smile was gone. She picked up the gun and fiddled with the buttons.  
  
“How do you turn this off!” Dani said in a panic.

The gun started beeping and a red light was blinking.

“It’s too late now,” Valerie told her, “You have to get rid of it!”

Dani held the gun under her arm and her other arm, shaking terribly, started to glow. A portal opened a few feet behind Valerie and the original Dani, at the feet of the Sarcophagus. The duplicate threw the weapon towards the portal while the original made her shield envelope around them and fortified it just in case. Valerie could not see what happened on the other side of the ethereal wall. She looked over to the Dani closest to her.

“Did it work?”  
  
“I don’t-“

_BOOM!_

Valerie and Dani both covered their ears. The explosion shook them from within the shield. Dani’s duplicate evaporated from the amount of energy Dani needed to keep the shield up. Valerie heard something crash over their heads. Pieces of ceiling, she assumed. It wasn’t long before the crashing and shaking stopped. They looked at each other. Carefully and slowly, Dani lowered the shield. The room was fairly intact, there were cracks all over the walls and ceiling. Valerie was worried that the room would collapse on them, but nothing more fell on them but some plaster dust.

“What happened?” Valerie asked.

“I told you, it’s hard to manage my powers when there’s two of me. I must have put too much energy into the shields that the portal disintegrated before the gun could go through. And so….boom.”

Valerie’s eyes widened.  
  
“Right in front of the Sarcophagus.”

She went over to the feet where the blast originated. Dani followed after slowly.  
  
“Come on, Val, the thing was made to hold the Ghost King. I don’t think one little explosion would break it.”

“Tell that to the crack.”

Where the gun must have went off, there was a crack. It was a spider web that looked small in comparison to the whole of the coffin, but it was a big as a manhole cover. The surface was dented a few inches in.  Valerie couldn’t look at it without holding her breath, as if a small exhale would make the crack worse. Dani looked scared too. Valerie wondered if she knew just how big a danger this was or if this was a dent on a policeman’s car to her.

“Okay, this might be a problem.”  Dani said, her fear poorly hidden. “We’ll just have to call in some back up. Find a way to carry this out of here without making it worse. Maybe there’s a way to fix it. Maybe it’ll fix itself once we get it into the Ghost Zone, a lot of ghostly items heal itself once in an ectoplasm enriched atmosphere.”

Perhaps some more dust fell on it, perhaps it was the vibrations of their voices, or maybe it was something underneath, but at that moment the crack grew. It crawled up the Sarcophagus, leaving deep gashes in the body with a green glow oozing from underneath. It was only five seconds before the cracks reached the head of the Sarcophagus and whole room shook once again.

Valerie backed away from the Sarcophagus. Bits and pieces of the crypt fell away. When she was next to Dani, she grabbed her by the wrist.  
  
“Get us out of here!” Valerie cried. She looked over to Redd, still unconscious on the floor. She ran over to her. She heard a something like stone breaking open and the next thing she knew she was flat on the ground. She pulled herself up. Her head was throbbing. She looked back to see if Dani was okay. She couldn’t see Dani but what she did see paralyzed her.

* * *

Dani got up after being knocked down by a shock wave. She did not look back to see the cause of it, instead she scrambled to her feet and raced over to Redd and Val. Redd was still unconscious, thankfully. Dani grabbed her and went back to Val. She was staring straight on back to where the Sarcophagus stood. She wasn’t doing anything else, and it scared Dani greatly. Dani knew now wasn’t the time to worry about it and grabbed Val by the upper arm and pulled her into the air. She turned the three of them intangible and flew them through the ceiling. She took them out in the front yard of Worth’s house and set them down. Val was sitting up, staring blankly ahead of her. Dani knelt down to her and shook her shoulder.

“Val? Are you okay? Val?”

There was no response. Dani shook harder.  
  
“Come on Val, we need you down on Earth, snap out of it!”

Still no response. Dani looked to her hand as it sparked to life with ghost energy.

“I’m really sorry to do this, but…”

She touched her index finger to Val’s arm and gave her a small shock. Val jumped and clutched her arm.

“Ow! Dani, what was that for!”

“Sorry, you were in shock. I needed to wake you up.”

“I was not in shock. I have never been in shock ever in my career.”

“There’s always time for a first.”

Valerie looked back to the house.

“Should I go back for Worth?” Dani asked.

“Nah, he probably ran as soon as the gun went off. He’s long gone by now.”

“So he got away.”

“For now, but we’ve got a whole gallery of evidence against him. Once we catch him, it’s over. And at least we have the fugitive.” She nodded over to Redd beside her.

“And the Sarcophagus? What are we going to do about that?”

Valerie’s face darkened and she stared out again.

“We don’t have to worry about it anymore, it’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“Destroyed,” Valerie looked up to Dani in such a way that sent a chill all over. “The Ghost King is free and there is no way to contain him.”


	19. Quest for the Spring of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophelia tries to help Danny.

At first, there was barely any ghostly criminal activity, but then it came into Amity Park like a tsunami. Word must have gotten out that Danny Phantom was indisposed and the ghosts took it as open season, much to the chagrin of GHCU and Danny Phantom’s temporary replacement.  
  
“Come back here!” 

Ophelia chased after her tenth ghost that night. This one was going incredibly fast, causing windows to shatter as it flew by.  The police had lost it miles back and Ophelia could barely catch up. 

“Hey Speed Demon,” she shouted to the ghost, “Slow down before you crash into something!”

Either it couldn’t hear her or didn’t care because it kept on flying faster and faster. 

“Oh, screw it!” she said to herself. She phased through buildings while the ghost weaved around them. She got ahead of it and formed a net as it was heading her way. The ghost failed to stop in time and got trapped. The ghost struggled in the net as Ophelia dangled it in the air. 

“Ha!” she mocked. “I’d like to see you get out of that!” 

She soon regretted her words, as the ghost started flying off while in the net. Ophelia tried to pull it back but instead got taken along for the ride.

“Hey, stop, quit it!” she shouted, but again it wouldn’t listen. It was going every which way to shake her loose, but she hung on for dear life. They were halfway across town when he was caught in a beam. Ophelia caught herself in the air before she fell over or was thrown by the excess inertia. The beam sucked the ghost into a container wielded by Captain Gray.

“That’s yet another ghost you needed me to catch for you tonight.” She said.

“Hey, I was doing perfectly fine on my own.” Ophelia protested.

“You didn’t look like it.”

“I was wearing him down.”

“You would’ve been dragged all the way to Springfield before he wore down.”

Ophelia crossed her arms and turned away.

“Whatever. Can I go home now?”

“I suppose, I doubt you’ll be any more useful this late at night. So, how’s your dad?”

Ophelia half smiled and turned back to Auntie Val.

“He’s still in his cast, but he’s getting better. Doctors say he would’ve healed a lot earlier if it weren’t for the ectoranium burns. Another week in the Ghost Zone and a little physical therapy and he’ll be back on patrol.”

Auntie Val looked away, making Ophelia feel uneasy.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“I guess they didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“Well…you know how Pariah Dark is loose?”

“I never heard the end of it. Everyone in and out of the Ghost Zone won’t stop talking about it.”

“Well, as of tomorrow, for the safety of the citizens, the Ghost Zone’s being evacuated.”

Ophelia nearly dropped out of the sky in hearing the news.

“The entire Ghost Zone? Is that even possible?”

“They did it before when Pariah first came out of the Sarcophagus. This time, we’re keeping it under control and the ghosts will have a place to stay at the meantime.”

“But, but what about Clockwork, Frostbite, the Observants? Where would they stay? What about my Dad?”

“Your dad will have to moved home and heal it out on the Human Plane.”

“But then it’ll take weeks for him to heal! And I can’t keep doing these night patrols without him.”

“You’ll have to, and it’ll be a lot worse now that every ghost in existence will be sharing the planet with us.”

“So a prolonged broken parent _and_ ten times the workload? Splendid.”

“This isn’t just about you, Ophelia, we all have to deal with this. My precinct is going to work around the clock to keep the peace. We’ll have to borrow people from other precincts who probably never held a ghost weapon in their lives.”

“But they’re choosing to do this, they’re better trained. I’m a kid, for Pete’s sake, I’m in a very short phase in my life where I don’t have these burdens of responsibilities. I should be with my boyfriend or worrying about the big math test in the morning, not dodging ghost rays at two in the morning.”

“Oh come on, Phé, you know that your parents, your Aunt Jazz, your uncle Tucker and me were fighting ghosts at your age.”

“That’s because you were the only ones who could fight ghosts, you had no choice.”

“And I’m sorry but neither do you. Now go home and rest, I’ll need you well rested and fully functioning tomorrow night when all the ghosts are relocated.”

* * *

 

 She was in the basement of the high school, sound asleep on the cold floor. Owen could tell that she was too deep a sleep to remember that she was in school in the middle of the day.

“Thanks, Sid.” Owen said to the ghost who found her.

“No problemo,” said Poindexter, “She should get some more sleep, this is the fourth time I found her catching Zs.”

“I’ll let her know.” Owen said as Poindexter disappeared.

Owen walked over and knelt down to her. He held her by the shoulder and gently shook her.

“Time to get up, Phé,” he told her. 

Ophelia stirred. He saw her eyes peeking through her hair. She smiled at him, at first, but then after looking around the smile faded.

“I fell asleep and phased through the floor again, didn’t I?”

“Yep”

“Did anyone see me this time?”

“Just me, has anyone told you how pretty you look when you’re asleep.”

“Even on a basement floor?”

“You’re the only thing pretty about a basement floor.”

Ophelia smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

“You’re sweet.”

He helped her up on her feet and they walked out together.

“You really should get some downtime, Phé, I hardly ever get to see you outside of school and inside you’re barely conscious.”

Ophelia smile faded.

“I know, I wish I could but my Dad’s still injured and things are only getting crazier.”

“Yeah, you told me, the evacuation. So the entire Ghost Zone is coming here?”

“Well, not _here_ here, not Amity. Different portals are being opened all around the world and ghosts are going to be given temporary places to stay until the Ghost Zone is safe again.”

“But still, that’s a lot of ghosts coming our way.”

“Tell me about it. And I’m going to have to deal with it all.”

“What about Dani, she must have to go on patrols too.”

“I don’t even know. With our luck, she’ll be sent to the fours corners of the Earth for some ridiculous Warden thing.” 

Owen squeezed her hand.

“What about us, then?”

That question had been in his mind ever since they became a couple. She was always being called away for some ghost fighting thing, leaving him alone and waiting for her return. She barely had time for school, let alone for him. And because of this they had never gone on their first date, or even had their first kiss.

Ophelia’s thumb rubbed his hand.

“Nothing’s going to happen to us. I’ll find a way to make more time, trust me.”

Owen smiled. 

“There you guys are.”

Trix found them as they were leaving the staircase and entered the halls.  She was happy to see them, eager even.

“What were you two doing down there? If you wanted to make out, I heard under the bleachers is a good place.”

Owen saw a little bit of opacity leave Ophelia, making it hard to see the flush of her cheeks. He couldn’t help but think of how cute she was when she felt embarrassed.

“It wasn’t that, Trix. I just fell asleep in class and phased through the floor. Owen came down to get me.”

Tris smiled at him.

“Well, aren’t you the white knight,” she said with a playful push on his shoulder. “You two are just the cutest thing. I hope you don’t mind, Owen, but I need to borrow Phé for a bit after school.”

Before he could respond, Ophelia spoke for him.

“What do you need?”

Trix quickly scanned their surroundings. Only a handful of people knew that Trix was a ghost, and in fear of getting into serious trouble, these handful of people would like to keep it that way. Sometimes, Owen wondered what would happen if the school found out that one of their students enrolled post-mortem. The most likely result to him was that they would throw her out, a lesser option was getting the police involved.

“Okay,” Trix said, breaking his train of thought. “So you know how all the ghosts are getting relocated today, right?”

Ophelia’s eyelids dropped to an annoyed glare.

“I think I’ve heard more about it than I ever wanted to.”

“Well, I found this place in town to stay in, and I was wondering if you can help me move into it after school today. Your little talents with portals would certainly help me big time.”

“Hey, if you needed someone to help you move, why don’t I help?” Owen offered.

Trix looked at him with disbelief.

“Really, you wouldn’t mind helping?”

“Of course not, anything to help a friend.” Leaning slightly towards Ophelia, he made sure to add, “And to spend what little time I can get with my girlfriend.” He could see her smile a little at that.

Trix smiled.

“Oh, thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“Not at all, Trix,” Ophelia said. “So where is this place?”

* * *

“I don’t know what’s more unbelievable: the fact that the owners let you live here or the fact that you _want_ to live here.”

To Ophelia’s surprise, Trix had led her and Owen to the Presto Theatre.

“What? I think it’s nice.” Trix argued. “You have to admit it feels quite a bit like me.”

“Well, yes, but it’s also half burned.”

“And wasn’t the last time you were here you were held captive by a magician guy or something?” Owen added as he and Ophelia were moving a sofa through a portal in the middle of the stage.

“Yes, but it was also the time I was freed and met two of my best friends- Oops”

Trix dropped a box she was carrying through the portal. When it hit the ground, the box opened and a flock of doves fluttered out.

“Huh, I thought these were books.” She mused, “I must’ve labeled the boxes wrong.”

“Owen has a point,” Ophelia said, “Aren’t you worried that this place will bring bad memories?”

Trix gave them both a look that was somewhere between bemused and disappointed.

“You know, I expected that reaction from Owen because he’s a mere mortal but I’m surprised to hear it from you. I’m a ghost. Ghosts haunt places, not the other way around. It is silly to dwell in the past if I have already received closure.”

“Alright then, as long as you’re okay with it.”

Ophelia and Owen set the sofa down and sat on it for a moment’s break. One of the doves landed on the back of the sofa, Ophelia offered it her hand to perch on and it took it gladly.

As she stroked the bird’s feathers, she continued her questions.

“So, what exactly is this living arrangement? Em said this place is supposed to be under repair for the fire damage and that they plan to have it open in time for summer. Wouldn’t that be a problem?”

“Not really, they finished with the basement level so I can place all my stuff there.

And I spend eight hours a day with you guys at school…more like ten, so I’m out of the way for most of the construction.”

“Then it’s set.”

Owen walked back through the portal and into Trix’s home realm.

“Hey, if that other box says ‘books’, then wouldn’t this box labeled ‘doves’ be filled with-“

Another flock of doves flew in through the portal and dispersed across the theatre. White feathers fluttered down to the ground, some landing on, and through, the two girls. 

“Never mind.”

Ophelia and Trix giggled.

“We should better go help him,” said Ophelia, “I don’t think he’s ever been in a ghost’s realm before.”

Ophelia got up from the sofa and Trix followed her into the portal. The rings came yet again to change her hair and eyes. It was starting to irritate her a bit, but she knew she couldn’t do anything to change it. Owen was on the floor, completely covered in feathers. Ophelia had to choke back another laugh as she helped him up. 

“Why does she have to have two boxes of doves?”

“I don’t know, it’s probably a magician thing.”

“I guess,” Owen brushed off a good amount of the feathers off of him, but there were still a few stuck to his sweater. “Hey, could you phase these feathers off of me?”

Ophelia raised an eyebrow.

“Why don’t you do it yourself?”

“Because I’m not dead.”

“But you’re in the Ghost Zone. Everyone can become intangible in the Ghost Zone, even humans.”

Owen furrowed his brow and looked back to his feather-coated sleeve. He shook his arm and the feathers fell right off it as though he wasn’t there at all.

“That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, I guess it is. I’m surprised this isn’t common knowledge on the Human Plane. I guess it would help explain why we don’t get many living tourists in the Ghost Zone.”

Owen jumped up and down and all the feathers fell off of him. He was like a small child playing with a new toy. Ophelia couldn’t help but laugh.

“Careful now, or you might fall through the floor.”

Owen stopped himself. He smiled back at her bashfully.

“Right, don’t need two of us falling through floors in one day.”

Ophelia pouted with arms crossed. 

“Very funny” she playfully punched his arms, just for it to phase right through him. Kid catches on fast.

“Just be careful when you try to touch something.”

Ophelia flew to the room Trix went off to. She heard Owen call after her.

“Wait, how do I keep stuff from phasing through me?”

Ophelia stuck her head through the wall to look at him. She covered her mouth while she was thinking.

“You know, I never gave it any thought. I suppose you have to think yourself as a solid holding a solid…. Just don’t touch anything fragile, okay?”

She pulled her head out of the wall and went to find Trix. She was in a room that Ophelia assumed to be the library from all the shelves. These shelves were now empty, and their contents were packed away in boxes all over the room. She sat up on the table and went looking through all the books.

“It’s weird, you have these books and I’ve never seen you read one of them.”

“I was born, raised and killed before the age of television. This is my form of entertainment when I’m home alone. This and the radio.”

“Who knew you were so big on the romance novels.”

Trix seemed to blush. She snatched the books out of Ophelia’s hands and quickly packed them back into the box.

“It was a phase, a five-year phase.”

“Sure it was.”

As Ophelia rolled her eyes, she spotted a book high up on the topmost shelf. It looked thick and old from where she was. 

“Hey, I think you missed one.”

She flew up to that spot and pulled out the book.

“ _A Guide to the Ancient Realms of the Afterlife_?” She read aloud.

“Oh yeah, I believe I got that the first year of my death. It’s an interesting read, you can have it if you want.”

Ophelia opened the book and leafed through the pages. A good amount of the old territories she already knew, or knew were far away from the boundaries of where her parents allow her to go in. There was one particular page that caught her eye. It was an illustration of a body of water, not unlike anything one could see on the Human Plane. The water seemed to have waterfalls as well as small spouts of water similar to a man-made fountain. Under this image was its name.

“The Spring of Life?”

Trix flew up and read the book over her shoulder. 

“Oh yeah, that’s an old wives tale.”

“What’s the tale?”

“You know how there is a universal belief of water bringing life and power? Well, this spring is said to be the basis of all these beliefs. There are many legends about it, most of them blatant embellishments, but the one thing all those legends have in common: anyone who drinks the water from that spring will be cured of all ailments.”

“And healed of all wounds?” Ophelia felt a plan brewing in the back of her mind.

“Well, yes, I suppose so.”

“So if a person had something happen to them that, oh say, breaks nearly every bone in their body, and, hypothetically, this same person was exposed to something that causes them to heal in a slow, slow rate; then if this same person drank from this Spring of Life, then would all their bones be fixed?”

“I don’t see why not, but it’s only a legend. I’ve never heard of anyone finding the Spring since I got this book.”

“But there is a high chance this place is real, it’s at least worth a try to find it.”

Trix gave her a suspicious look. 

“What are you getting at?”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed a nervous lavender, she reeled back some of her enthusiasm.

“Nothing, I’m only saying this Spring is worth looking into.”

Trix kept her look. She closed the book and took it from Ophelia’s hands. 

“The chances of the legends being true are slim, but the risks aren’t. There’s a reason no one goes into the Ancient Realms, Ophelia, it’s too dangerous.” She flew down to the table in the center of the room to put the book away in one to the boxes. “Not to mention that the entire Ghost Zone is banned from the living and the dead since His Majesty has awakened from his Eternal Sleep.”

“But all the ghosts are gone, and the Ghost Zone is vast. I don’t believe this King of All Ghosts can look into every corner of the Ghost Zone all at once.”  
Trix turned back to her, a look of surprise directed towards her. 

“You’re not seriously thinking of going down there while Pariah’s on the loose, are you?”

“What if I am?”

“Then I would say you’re either a complete moron or you have a serious death wish. You can’t go there, not over some water that may _or may not_ exist.”

“Not even if it’s for a good cause?”

“Nothing good can come out of this. Ophelia, you must understand, not even a _ghost_ would go on this search, and ghosts have nothing to fear since they’re already dead.”

“That’s because they have no need for magic healing water. You ghosts regenerate like that” she snapped her fingers “We humans take forever to heal. My dad won’t be able to use his own two feet for a month, if he heals that fast. This water could help him a great deal.”

“Not if you die trying to grab it.”

“I won’t”

“You will while the Ghost Kings is about. And if you keep talking about this, I’ll have no choice but to tell your parents.”  
Ophelia held her hands up in surrender.

“Fine, fine, I promise I won’t talk about it anymore. You won’t see me anywhere near the Ancient Realms, especially while Pariah’s out.”

Trix smiled victoriously.

“Good.”

She stacked a few boxes and hefted them into Ophelia’s arms.

“Now, let’s get these things out of here and we can set these all up in my new home. I believe the modern social convention is that I treat you to some pizza when we’re finished.”

“Pizza sounds good.” Ophelia said from under the very heavy stack of boxes.

And so, through the whole afternoon and well into the evening, she helped Trix move into the Presto Theatre. She said nothing about the Spring of Life, though a plan was coming into shape since she opened to that page. And though she said she would not be seen near the Ancient Realms, she made sure to smuggle the old book into her backpack without Trix, or even Owen, noticing.

* * *

Owen was sad he didn’t see Ophelia at school today. He was relieved when Mrs. Fenton told him it was only because she was too exhausted. She couldn’t wake up in time, she told him, in fact, she’s still asleep right now. In a strange way, he was glad she missed school today. A day of sleep would do her some good, and even if she tried to come to class she would be too sleep deprived to function. Once again, he marveled how when he finally got the girl he crushed on all this time and he couldn’t even enjoy it.

He thought of this while he was doing his homework late that afternoon. His headphones blared music into his ears that were one decibel away from damaging his hearing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flashing light coming from his window. He looked out the window to find the flashing light coming from a ghost ray coming from his girlfriend’s hand. He put his headphones away and opened the window. She was floating outside his window.

“Hey Owen, can I come in?” she asked him.

“Sure, go ahead.”

As soon as he said, she flew right past him and settled on his bed. He closed the window behind him and leaned on the sill.

“You feeling any better?” he was surprised by the amount of worry in his voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m dreading going back on patrol tonight, though.”

“Well, there isn’t anything you can do about it, right?”

Ophelia bit her lip and gave him a somewhat mischievous smile. He had a sinking feeling he wasn’t going to like what she was about to say.

“What if I knew a way to get my dad out of the cast tomorrow and we could spend more time together.”

“Then I would ask you if you would like to take my flying pig to our first date.” He said with a small laugh. She wasn’t laughing back. “You’re serious?”

Ophelia went into her backpack and pulled out an old book.

“I got this from Trix yesterday. Apparently, there’s a place somewhere deep in the Ghost Zone that has this water that can heal anyone or anything. I’ve located it on the modern maps of GZ, I just need to go there, bottle some of that water and come back to give it to my Dad. He’s all healed and I won’t have to do these stupid patrols on my own.”

He was speechless. She wanted to go into the Ghost Zones, a world that houses the most dangerous things known to man, right when the most dangerous ghost in existence is kicking the dead out of their own homes. 

“Maybe you should sleep in tonight, you’re not thinking straight.”

“I know what I’m doing. I’ve grown up in the Ghost Zone as well as the Human Plane. I’ve been to parts not even my parents know about and I know just what to do when trouble comes my way. I’ll be in and out before no one will notice that I’m gone.”

“Then why are you telling me this?”

Ophelia hugged her knees, she met his eyes with a pleading look.

“You’re my boyfriend and my beast friend, the two most trusted people someone can have in their life. I want to tell you everything.”  
Owen crossed his arms and gave his best suspicious ”I’m not buying it” look. 

“And?”

“And what?”

“And whatever thing you want me to do for you while you’re on this quest.”

Ophelia pouted a little. 

“You make me sound like a bad person when you say it like that.”

“Are you asking me to do something bad?”

“No, not at all. I just need you to cover for me while I’m in the Ghost Zone.”

“What? Why can’t you just duplicate yourself like you did when your sister came to visit?”

Ophelia’s mouth twisted into a bitter knot as her eyes went to the ground, he took it that the reason was something she doesn’t like to admit.

“I can’t maintain a duplicate while in another dimension, it’ll evaporate the moment I walk through a portal.” He must have given her a look, because when she looked back up to him she had a look of her own. “What? Duplication is hard.”

Owen waved it off.

“Okay, what am I supposed to tell your parents when they notice you’re not around?”

 “If my parents ask where I am, tell them I stayed in after school to make up for a test. If any of our friends ask, tell them that I headed home to get some rest before I go on patrol. I know lying is bad and everything, but it’s not the absolute worst thing in the world.”

“What if you don’t come home in time for patrols?”

“That probably won’t happen.”

“What if it does?”

“Then pretend you’re worried. Say that the last time you saw me was at school and you thought I was heading home or staying back for a test. Be worried for me like something bad may have happened.”

“I most likely won’t be acting. What makes you think I’ll let you do this?”

Ophelia smiled that mischievous smile again.

“You said you’d do anything to spend more time with me, and this is what you can do. And if you tell on me, they’ll be monitoring me and we’ll never have any time together. I just need you do this one thing for me, and then we can finally go on that date.”

“If you come back alive. I’ve read about the Ghost King and he’s nothing to sneeze at. Your dad nearly died defeating him last time, and that was with a super suit to enhance his powers-“

“It’s called the Ecto-Skeleton, and don’t lecture me about my own family history.”

“You’re not taking this seriously, Phé, if Pariah finds you and knows who, or what, you are, he will kill you.”

“That’s why I won’t let him find me. Once I get to the Spring and get some of its water, I’ll open a portal that will take me straight home.”

“But-“

Her eyes met him again. They sparkled like light on a rippling pool. He could see tears gloss over them. It made him feel uncomfortable, he hated to see people cry. Even Millie’s tantrums made him feel uneasy, despite his knowledge of it being nothing.

“Please Owen, this isn’t just for me. I hate to see my dad in that cast every day. I can’t even hug him without hurting him. He’s not meant to be so placid for so long. And I hate seeing my mom having to spend time off of work, from a job she loves almost as much as her family, to take care of the both of us. It hurts and it’s all because of me. I want to make things right, just please, help me.”

A tear fell down her cheek. That’s when Owen knew she was serious about this. He rushed to her side. He held her in hopes to console her, reminding himself of the times he watched his mother try to calm Millie down, and himself in his dusty memories of his smaller years.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Don’t worry, I’ll help you. Please don’t cry.”

He heard her start to sob.

“Oh god, I can’t stop.”

“Owen, is everything okay?”

“Oh crud, Mom!” he turned back to Phé. “I don’t think she’ll be happy to see a girl crying in my room.”

“My Dad would be worse if he found me in your room.” She sobbed out.

“Owen, what’s going on up there?”

He heard her steps run up the stairs. Panicked, He turned to Phé.

“Hide!” he whispered. She faded away before him, leaving only an indent on the bed of where she sat. The indent soon disappeared when, he assumed, she stood up. Owen rushed back to his desk with his homework and computer open. He looked like he was studying intently when his mother walked into the room.

“Owen, is everything okay? I thought I heard crying.”

Owen turned around to see his mother. He tried not to look nervous, but had a feeling that he was failing.

“Crying? Did you check Millie’s room?”

“Millie’s playing with Luci at the Yumes’ house.”

“And you can hear her crying all the way from across the street? Wow, moms _do_ have superpowers.”

“I did not hear it from the Yumes’ house, I heard it coming from here. What’s going on Owen, do you have someone here?”

“No mom, of course not. You must have heard the show I was just watching.”

“But you don’t have a TV in our room.”

“Which is why I was watching it online.” He gestured towards the computer which, fortunately, actually had a paused video open on it. His mother looked at the computer, he could tell she was convinced.

“Alright, but could you turn it down a little. It really sounded like you had a girl in here, and she was crying.”

“Sorry, Mom.”

As soon as his mother left the room and closed the door, Ophelia appeared once again. Tears still streamed down her face, which she tried fervently to catch with her long sleeve, leaving red marks around her eyes from the agitation. He wondered how she managed to stay quiet the whole time while his mother was in the room. She then exhaled with a loud and desperate gasp and started coughing. The sobs came violently and uncontrollably like a bad case of hiccups. She covered her mouth to muffle the sounds.

“You were holding your breath the whole time?”

Ophelia nodded her head. After a few minutes of crying into to her sleeve and deep breaths, she stopped.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s okay” he said, unsure of what else to say.

“You’re a horrible liar.”

Without warning, she ensnared him in an affectionate embrace.  After a moment of dazed confusion, he wrapped his arms around her as well.

“What’s this for?” He immediately worried if it was a good thing to say.

“Because you’re a horrible liar.”

* * *

Last night’s patrol was just as bad as the one before, but somehow Ophelia managed to get enough sleep before she had to get up and go to school. She only fell asleep one time during class, but Wal was there to wake her up before their teacher could catch her or before she fell through anything. As soon as her last class ended, she stuffed her school bag into her locker and went to the roof. Owen met her there, wanting to see her off into the Ghost Zone. She took a backpack she stashed earlier that day and spilled its contents onto the ground, checking off each item she thought she would need before repacking it into the bag.

“ _Guide to the Ancient Realm_ : check. Current map of the Ghost Zone: check. Bottle for the spring water: check. Bottle full of normal filtered water in case I get thirsty: check. Cell phone: check. Roller blades-“

“Roller blades? In the Ghost Zone? Can’t you just fly?”

“But blading’s more fun, especially in the Ghost Zone. – First aid kit with herbicidal antiseptic and ointment-“

“Herbicidal?”

“It means it can kill plants.”

“I know what it means, but why would you-“

“Not going to explain.”

When she checked off the last of the items, she closed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. Despite her belief that nothing bad will happen, she brought her lucky goggles with her and now had them fixed on top of her head. Her hand glowed as she opened a portal into the Ghost Zone. She looked over to Owen, whose worry was written clearly across his face. Guilt held a tight grip on her stomach. She took his hands into hers.

“I guess it’s too late to talk you out of it now.” He said.

She took his hands into his and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

“Please don’t worry about me, I’ve done a lot riskier stuff than this and I’ve always come out okay. I’ll be fine, you’ll see. I’ll be back home at a blink of an eye.”

His looked her in the eye, his fear and worries for her colored by his hazel irises. He took one of his hands out of hers and brushed her hair back.

“Just be careful, okay?”

He leaned in for a kiss. Her eyes flashed and, panicking, she took a step away, phasing out of his hands. Owen looked surprised and confused. She hid her distress with a playful smile.

“Save it for when I get back.” She said. “When I’ve earned it.”

She jumped into the portal before he had a chance to respond. She waved to him as the portal closed and her hair and eyes changed. She bit her lip. That was close, far too close. In all her time trying to get out of patrols to be with Owen, she didn’t think about what she was supposed to do when they kissed. What would she see in him when they kiss? Would it be any worse than what she could already see in him? Something deeper, darker. An absolute, unforgivable invasion of privacy unlike anything she has ever done. What would he see in her? Some part of herself she would never share with anyone? A dark secret? A bad memory? The 25th?  And even if he didn’t see anything bad, how could she explain to him what he just saw? Could she trust him with something so close and personal as her insight, a power she wasn’t even willing to tell her own parents? Would he accept her if he knew?

She shook those fears out of her head. Now was not the time to think of that, she could worry about it later when she got home. Now she had to find the Spring of Life and heal her dad.

* * *

The Ghost Zone was strange without anyone in it. Although she grew up seeing only few souls at a time scattered in the infinite space that she considered her second home, Ophelia couldn’t help but feel unnerved by the emptiness around her. She had always felt a sentience to this world, as if it were a living, breathing creature that everyone happened to live inside. But now it felt like she was in the remains of a great creature, picked clean to the bone by hungry scavengers.

She tried to imagine this happening to the Earth; if everyone suddenly left. Empty houses, vacant streets, everything left undisturbed as if the person was just in the other room and will walk through the door any second and return to it. Absolute silence.

Somehow, even that seemed nothing compared to how the Ghost Zone was. She had never felt so alone.

Who would want to rule a place like this?

“It’s alright Phé,” she told herself, “The faster you find the Spring, the sooner you can get out of here.”

She kept reminding herself that there was someone else here besides her, and that she must be quiet as to make sure that someone else could not find her, but she could not convince herself that there was anyone here.

She spotted something on a rock near her path. When she got closer, she saw it was a green skeleton, dressed in the armor of a Viking warrior. She landed on the rock to get a closer look. It stood still as if it were made of stone, and as her insight could see, it had the sentience of one too.

“Strange,” she though aloud, “I’ve never seen anything like this before. What’s it doing here in the middle of nowhere?”

She stretched out her hand to touch it. As she was just about to make contact with the skull, the eye-sockets glowed. A boney hand shot to her wrist and caught her in an iron grip. The other hand drew out the skeleton’s sword and swung it at her. She tried to get out of the way, but the blade slashed he forearm. She shrieked out in pain. The skeleton swung at her again, and this time she managed to duck.  It kept swinging its sword and she dodged every blow while trying to get her hand free.

“Hey, knock it off!”

She opened her palm and shot a ghost ray at it. She only meant for the blast to get the skeleton to let go, but instead the soldier crumbled to dust at her feet. She stood there in stunned silence. It took her a moment to notice that the skeleton’s hand was still holding her wrist, with a good part of its arm still attached. She shook it off and took a step back.

“This must be one of Pariah’s soldiers,” she thought aloud, “which means there’s more where that came from. But it looks like I’ll be fine as long as I don’t get too close to any of them.”

Her arm started to sting. She shot a hand to her arm. It felt warm and wet. She pulled her hand away and saw there was blood on it. She looked at her arm. The skeleton’s sword cut halfway across her forearm, but as far as she could tell it wasn’t very deep.

“Come on!” She whined.

* * *

After she dressed her wound and wrapped in bandages, she returned to her path. She followed the map and the guide, getting momentarily lost here and there and just as easily getting herself back in the right direction. Most of the places she passed she recognized and it made her feel better. If she’s been here before and survived, then it won’t be long at all until she reaches the Spring.

She found soldiers everywhere she went, standing as idle statues no matter where she went. They were all dressed as warriors, but the time period and civilization varied between the skeletons from the Mongolian Hun to the Roman centurion. She made sure to avoid them, but it still unnerved her to see them. She couldn’t understand how they can stand so still one moment, and then attack people in another. She couldn’t understand how they could move at all without a hint of a psyche on them. It all left a chill down her spine. She averted her eyes from the cold empty sockets and kept moving.

Soon she reached somewhere that was only blank space on the edge of her map. All there was on that blank area was a note: “Ancient Realms (unexplored)”.

“Alright, so I’m halfway there.” She said to herself.  She put the map away and pulled out Trix’s book. She flipped through the pages until she found a map. She found her location and then looked for the Spring with her finger tracing the way she should take.

“So, through this Field of Tranquility, past the Fiery Mountains of Wrath, hang right of the Hopeless Abyss and on the other side of the Felicitous Forest is the Spring of Life. This won’t be hard at all.”

She snapped the book shut and entered the uncharted territories of the Ancient Realms. Just like the rest of the Ghost Zone, here too was deserted. But the emptiness of this place held a different aura. All over there were buildings and relics of different time periods. It was like seeing ruins of ancient worlds pieced back together. There were no doors here, making Ophelia think that these empty structures are in fact homes to ghosts that predated the door-contained realms. Ghosts have been here recently; she could feel it. And like the rest of the dimension, they abandoned their homes in fear of the Ghost King’s wrath. He must be something, she thought, to drive these people from a place so protected by its own nature that no one ever dared enter it, not even to document it on a map.

Even here, the skeleton soldiers stood at their posts scattered across the place. Their presence did something to alleviate the feeling of loneliness, but replaced it with another unpleasant feeling. She felt like those sockets were staring at her, waiting for just the right moment to attack. This eerie thought helped her go a little faster. The sooner she can get away from these things, the better.

  
Finally, through the dense trees, she found the Spring. It was the only place in the entire Ghost Zone that still held the liveliness she knew so well. All around the water was green with moss and grass, along with speckles of color from assorted wild flowers. The sound of the water comforted her, being the only sound in a void of silence. She could feel the water’s potency as soon as she saw it, rippling across the atmosphere like the water itself. It filled her with unbound glee. Dad was going to feel better, she can finally get some time for herself, this was happening.

She landed on the edge of the great pool and sat down close to the water. She unraveled the bandages on her arm and checked her wound. It stopped bleeding a little, but it had yet to close.  She sighed. How is she supposed to explain a gaping wound to her parents? As soon as they see it, they’ll know where she went and tell her that the Ghost Zone was evacuated for a reason and she was lucky to have only gotten the one wound. She could’ve gotten killed or worse.

She looked down at the water and back at her wound.

“Alright, Spring of Life, show me what you’ve got.”

She leaned over the edge and held her arm above the water. She took a handful and splashed it onto her arm. The water dripped a clear red off her arm as it washed away some of the blood. She felt a cool, soothing, tingly sensation across her arm. The wound closed up and got smaller and smaller until there was no sign of the injury at all. She smiled. The water works.

The tingly sensation didn’t stop, and it started on her wet hand as well. The cool and soothing feeling went away, replacing it with pins and needles. Her scars crawled across her arm and hand, as if the plant they emulated were growing underneath. The wet skin burned, causing her to scream out. She wiped her hands and arm on her sweatshirt. When the skin was dried, the scars went away and so did the pain.

She choked back the tears the pain created.

“Looks like the water doesn’t only help people and I can’t touch it, so much for being easy.”

She went into her backpack, pulling out all of its contents.

“Of course I didn’t bring any gloves,” she scolded herself, “I didn’t need them, it’s not like the magic healing water burns like acid.”

She spun the empty water bottle in her hand. How was she supposed to fill this up if she couldn’t even touch the water? Can’t touch the water. That’s it!

She hooked her finger through the loop on top of the bottle’s cap. Slowly, she lowered the bottle into the water until it was submerged up to its neck. She turned her hand, and then the bottle, intangible. The water flowed back into the empty space the bottle took up. She made her hand tangible again, as well as the bottle. The bottle felt heavier when she pulled her out of the water, telling her that she had successfully filled it. She smiled.

She was careful to set the dripping bottle down onto the grass. She took off her sweatshirt and used it to dry off the bottle. She made sure that the cap was screwed on tight so not a single drop would spill and touch her. As an extra precaution, she wrapped the bottle in her sweatshirt before putting it away in her backpack. 

“Mission accomplished.” She said to herself with a satisfied grin. “Now I can go home-“

Before she took a single step, she was surrounded by a hoard of skeleton soldiers. No longer standing a stone-like vigil, these warriors were poised for an attack, brandishing their weapons with the clear intent to use them on her. Ophelia looked at them bewildered.

“After I get away from these guys.” She said thick with disappointment.

_This is what I get for challenging the universe by saying this would be easy._

She charged her hands to make herself look threatening, her eyes glowed a deep violet to match.

“Alight, which one of you fossils want to go first?”

* * *

The walk home was the most stressful in Owen’s entire life. The closer and closer he got to his street, the more and more terrified he became that he’ll run into someone who will ask about Ophelia. _Just calm down,_ he thought to himself, _no one will ask, stop worrying._ He played the past couple of weeks in his head, tracking when and how often someone would ask him about Ophelia. Since everyone knew that she was busy with ghost stuff, the chances that anyone would ask was slim but not zero. Someone would ask, he knew it, and he will have to lie. Maybe not, he can just say that he last saw her at school, which was true. What would she be doing in school so late? She needed to get some work done, she has been behind in a lot of her classes since her dad got hurt. Does he know when she will be home? He didn’t, she wasn’t so clear on it herself.   
Playing these questions and answers in his head made him feel a little better. This won’t be so bad, he thought, maybe he can keep people away from suspicion until she gets home. If she gets home. His mind immediately shifted from worrying over how to cover for Phé to being utterly terrified for her well-being. How could he let her go like that? She’ll get killed before she even reaches the Healing Spring of Life Water Whatever She Called It. What kind of friend was he to just stand there as she walked to her death? He couldn’t even think of what kind of boyfriend it made him to do that. He’s definitely worse than Richard. All that guy did was alienate her from her friends, kissed another girl, and wouldn’t stop calling her after she dumped him. Owen just let her walk off to the hands of Pariah Dark and agreed to lie about where they can find her body. He’s the worst boyfriend ever!

“Hello Owen”

He nearly jumped when he recognized the voice. He felt like someone put jumper cables to his nervous system. 

“Oh, hello Mrs. Fenton, strange meeting you here.”

“Owen, this is my front lawn.”

“Right, so it’s not strange see you here.”

“Are you alright? You seem a bit….jumpy.”

“Jumpy? Who’s jumpy, I’m not jumpy. I’m the exact opposite of jumpy, I’m super calm! If I were any more calm I would be dead!”

She looked at him oddly. 

“Okay…Anyway, have you seen Ophelia anywhere? She hasn’t been answering her phone and she should’ve been home an hour ago?”

His throat was dry. He knew someone was going to ask him! He tried to act cool and gave her a shrug.

“Last time I saw her, she was at school. She has a lot of work to catch up with, after all.”

“Really, I would’ve thought Coach Baxter would keep her in for extra practice. Doesn’t the school have that big meet next week?”

His heart stopped for a moment. _Why didn’t I think of that!_

“Oh, right, track practice. I meant that she wanted to catch up on her work _after_ track practice.”

Mrs. Fenton’s eyes narrowed on him. That couldn’t be a good sign.

“Did she say when she was planning on coming home, or was she planning on going straight to the precinct to do her patrols?”

Owen shrugged again.

“Honestly, I don’t know, she didn’t tell me. I just asked if she wanted to walk home with me and she said ‘nah, it’s alright, I’m staying back late today.’ And then I left.”

Mrs. Fenton crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow.

“Owen, you do realize that I spent the entire ninth grade covering for Ophelia’s father when he went out ghost fighting, right? And that I catch people in their lies for a living? I think I can spot a cover when I see one.”

Owen was trying not to shake.

“That’s cool, Mrs. Fenton, but I don’t see what this has to do with Ophelia.”

“I think it has everything to do with Ophelia, and I think you know that too.”

“I do?”

“Where is she, Owen?”

“I told you, last place I saw her was at school.”

“Do you know where she was planning on sneaking off to after you saw her at school?”

“Sneaking off to?”

“She went somewhere she wasn’t supposed to and told you to cover for her, didn’t she?”

“No”

“Then why hasn’t she responded to my calls?”

“Maybe she turned it off to study.”

“She never turns off her phone. And she knows better than to ignore a call when she knows it’s me or her father checking up on her. Is she somewhere dangerous?”

“If you count the hands of Coach Baxter as dangerous, then yes.”

“Owen!”

Owen held his hands up defensively.

“Honest, I don’t know why she hasn’t called you back. Here,” he pulled his phone out of his pocket and pushed buttons. “I’m writing her a text right now telling her to call you, see.”

He held his phone’s screen to Mrs. Fenton after he hit send. The message read out: _Ur mom is looking 4 u, she wants u 2 call her.  
_

Mrs. Fenton looked from him to the screen and back.

“You think if she won’t answer her own mother, she’d listen to you?”

He heard a faint ringing coming from Mrs. Fenton’s jeans pocket. She stuck her hand in and pulled out her phone. It was ringing and vibrating in her hand with Ophelia’s name lit up on the screen. Mrs. Fenton pushed the call button and switched it to speaker so he could hear it.

“Hello?”

“Hi mom,” said Ophelia through the phone. Owen couldn’t help but notice how out of breath she sounded. “Owen just texted me saying you were looking for me?”

“Yeah, I was. You didn’t answer my calls and I got worried. Where are you?”

“Oh yeah, sorry about that. Baxter just put me through his intense runs and so I was nowhere near my phone for the past hour.”

“You should’ve told me, honey, I was worried sick about you.”

“I wanted to, but as soon as my last class was over, Baxter took my phone away and dragged me to track practice.”

“When are you coming home?”

“I was planning on going to the library while it was still open to get some schoolwork done, but I don’t think I have it in me to absorb any information. I’m heading home right now.”

“Alright, I’ll have dinner ready for you when you get home. You won’t have much time to rest before patrols tonight.”

“I know Mom, see you at home, bye.”

The screen flashed, notifying that Ophelia hung up. Owen sighed in relief. Thank goodness she was alive. Mrs. Fenton still had a suspicious look.

“I don’t know what you guys were really up to, but I’m too overworked with the office and Danny to go find out. As long as she comes home alive and without any legal trouble, I’m willing to let it slide. Just don’t make a habit out of this.” She leaned in slightly. Something about the way she looked at him made him picture her as a mother lioness, preparing to pounce on the poor creature that was dumb enough to get too close to her cubs.

“You shouldn’t let her go off and do whatever she wants. She may think she knows what she’s doing, but in reality she has no regard for her own well-being or how it effects the people around her. You better take care of her, because she’s not going to care if she dies.”

Owen gave a solemn nod and fixed his eyes to the ground. He may not know exactly how true that was, but he had a good enough understanding to wrack him with guilt.

* * *

She got lucky. She had just crumbled the last skeleton soldier when she had received Owen’s text message.

_Ur mom is looking 4 u, she wants u 2 call her_

Mom must’ve gotten suspicious and he needed her to help. She should’ve warned him about Mom. She can get anything past Dad, but Mom was impossible. And if she couldn’t get anything past her, she can just imagine how bad it was for Owen.

She could tell from Mom’s tone that she wasn’t buying any of it, but the urgency of her voice when she wanted her home made her think she could get away with sneaking off if she got home safe. One could hope.

She checked her backpack one last time, making sure the bottle was sealed tight and still wrapped inside her sweatshirt. The last thing she needs is for the water to leak on her. Everything was where it should be, not a dent or crack in sight.  Relieved, she closed her bag and went on her way.

“Okay, so that wasn’t as simple as I thought it would be, but otherwise this was a piece of ca-“

Something appeared in front of her out of nowhere. She bumped into it before she became aware of its presence. She took a step back and looked at what the object was. It was a leg. A very large, trunk like muscular leg adorned in a boot and some black material akin to medieval armor. She followed the leg up to a set of hips with a mace and a pair of gloved hands fixed to them; to a torso with a cape fixed over the plated shoulder by two green skulls; and finally to a head with an unhappy looking stone face. This head had bright green hair falling down behind it and a pair of horns with one of them broken off halfway. The face was pure white with black marks painted at the chin and over the one good, pure green eye. The other eye had a black patch over it that did nothing to hide the heinous scar running down the side of his face. Even with only one eye, he stared down at her with such malice that she felt like he was looking up at him from her grave. She did not need to be told who this ghost was, even without seeing his likeness and heard his story growing up, she knew who this was.  
  
“What is this? A child? Coming across these lands alone?” his voice boomed down to her, “Do you not know these lands are _mine_?”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed a pale lavender. She swallowed air.

“You must be the Ghost King,” she squeaked, “um, heh heh, you are a lot bigger than I imagined. I, um, I mean no offense by my presence, your Majesty, I just…got a little lost. You know those portals, always popping up at the most inopportune moments.”

As she spoke, her hand glowed behind her back. A portal opened behind her and she drifted towards it.

“But you know, it’s getting kind of late, and my folks are probably worried, so I’ll just get out of your hair-”

The Ghost King sneered. His hand glowed red. The edges of the portal changed from purple to red. Just as Ophelia was about to go through, the portal evaporated. She looked around the dissolving red mist swirling around her in wide-eyed surprise.

“Did you just close my portal?”

“No one leaves my kingdom unless it is at my word.” He grabbed her, making her feel like a Barbie doll in a child’s grasp by how large he was in proportion to him. He dragged her closer to his face to get a closer look at her.

“There’s something about you that seems familiar… have we met before?”

Ophelia’s eyes dimmed.

“Nope, never, haven’t seen you before ever in my afterlife. You must be thinking about someone else who has absolutely no relation to me whatsoever.”

“Regardless, you have trespassed my lands and disarmed my guards. You shall have to receive the full punishment for your crimes.”

“And what’s that? A million years in the royal dungeon?”

“Execution”

Ophelia cocked her head to the side with a querulous expression.

“I never exactly got that. I mean, we’re already ghosts, we can’t exactly die all over again. And yet you guys have execution on the table. Does it mean something else here, like you are put through so much pain that you wish you were human so you can die or something?”

The Ghost King smiled at her menacingly. He held up his free hand to her eye level as it glowed a heinous blood red.

“You shall see soon enough.”

Ophelia looked at the hands with panicked wide eyes.

“I’d rather not.”

She phased through his hand and flew away like a bullet from a gun. The Ghost King looked at his empty hand in shock. That shock turned into anger and his hand curled into a glowing red fist.

“You are not getting away from me that easily, child!” he shouted after her.

Ophelia couldn’t really hear him, she was flying at top speed to get away. When she felt like she got far enough, she tried to open a portal. She could barely get a pinhole into the fabric of the dimension without it dissolving into a red mist.

“Oh no, oh no! Why can’t I open this!” 

Did she hear it or did she feel it coming? She couldn’t tell. All she knew was that she dodged the Ghost King’s ray just in time.

“Ye shall not escape my wrath that easily, child. No one leaves the Ghost King unless it is by my will.”

 Ophelia sped off panicking. She found a cavern within a floating rock and dove in like a rabbit scurrying away from a predator. When she was sure his Majesty did not know where she was, she let out a sigh of relief.

“How am I supposed to get home without a portal?...Home. That’s it! My home realm! If I can make it there, I can use it to get back to the Human Plane.”  
  
She flew outside the cavern and checked if the Ghost King was anywhere nearby. She shut her eyes and scanned the area as far as her insight could stretch. Once she saw the coast was clear, she turned herself invisible and flew off. She knew that she could easily be spotted, invisible or no, especially by a ghost that could disable her to open a portal and construct a skeleton army, but it gave her a little comfort that at least she made herself a little difficult to spot. She felt him getting close, and it made her go faster. She could see soldiers as she passed by floating rocks. Some were already there, and some she could see were just appearing.  
  
Finally, she could see the door. Just a little speck in the infinite horizon, yet it was oh so close. Right when she could see her father’s logo on the door, skeleton soldiers blocked her path. She was surrounded by them in numbers she rounded off at a hundred. Two flanked her and grabbed her arms. They turned her around and forced her to kneel. Her head was kept down and so she could only see the feet of the mighty Ghost King.

“You certainly are a slippery one, child, I will give you that. If I were a kind king, I would commemorate your efforts with a lighter punishment, but I am not a kind king. I am the King of All Ghosts, no one defies me and survives to speak of it.”  
  
Despite the urgency of the situation, she couldn’t keep herself from smiling at that.

“Nobody? Not even Danny Phantom?”

She felt the anger radiate off him like a solar flare.

“That boy shall feel my wrath soon enough, slowly and painfully! It shall be a mercy to him if he shared your fate.”

She looked up and saw the Ghost King’s hands glowing red. She turned slightly to look for the door. There it was so close yet just out of her reach.

“Any final words, girl?” said the Ghost King.

She looked back to him.   
“As much as I would like to be one of you examples, I’m late for dinner.”

The Ghost King shot at her. She phased out of the soldiers grip and got out of the way just in time. He kept shooting at her, and she kept on dodging them with a good amount of the soldiers taken out by the blasts. She zig-zagged her way to the door to her realm. She went in and locked the door behind her, the realm helping her by adding a few more locks to the deadbolts. She pressed her back to the door as she tried to calm down from the shock. The attempt failed, however, when a great force knocked against the door and threw her to the ground.  
  
“You either come out and face your obliteration with honor, or I will destroy you inside your own home.”

She picked herself up from the ground and backed away.   
“Me and my big stinking mouth.” She thought aloud.

There was a banging at the door. She thought the next knock would smash the door right off its hinges. Out of nowhere, the banging stopped. Ophelia did not know what to make of that moment of peace. She wasn’t going to take any chances. On the other side of the realm was a door that connected to her house on the Human Plane, She can make it there in no time flat.

“Very well then, if you want to die like a rat in a hole, so be it.”

Ophelia nearly fell over by how hard the ground shook under her feet. She heard the walls crack and pieces of the ceilings fall. The panic urged her to run faster but support beams and other constructs were falling in her path. She turned herself intangible to run through the rubble. When the floor started falling through, she gave up on her legs and started to fly. When she reached the door, there was barely anything left in her realm still standing. She was about to go in but she suddenly noticed the missing weight. Her backpack. It must’ve fallen off of her somewhere. She can’t go home without the water, not when she’s nearly getting killed over it.

She took a deep breath, put her lucky goggles over her eyes, and went back to the collapsing realm to find her backpack.

* * *

Sam invited Owen over for dinner. Of course he would decline the offer, saying that his parents would be worried about him, which is why she already got Mrs. Dodgson’s approval before she asked him.

“I wouldn’t want to bother you.”  
  
“Nonsense, I always make more food than we need so you’re no burden at all. And besides, it’s about time I got to know you, what with you dating my daughter and all.”

It was true. She and Danny have been planning to get to know Owen ever since Ophelia told them they were going out. She knew a good amount about him from his little visits to the house before they started dating, and she heard a lot about him from his mother, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t sit down and have a decent chat.

“Are you sure Ophelia would be okay with this?”  
  
“Of course she would, why would she not? It’s just a nice quiet dinner between you, her, and me, it’s not like the two of you have anything to hide from me.”

He laughed nervously.

“Yeah, right.”

“Hopefully she won’t be too long getting home from _school_ , then we would have to talk. I nice, long, excruciating talk.”

The poor boy was sweating now. At least Ophelia won’t have to worry about this one lying to her, he’s horrible at it. She can see through him like cellophane. Maybe she should reel it back a little before the poor boy has an anxiety attack. But then again, what’s wrong in a harmless little scare as long as it would keep him from letting Ophelia go off and cover for her? It isn’t like back in her day when she had to cover for Danny when he went off to save the day, Ophelia wasn’t a superhero. She was a teenage girl with ghost powers doing god-knows-what and most likely getting herself in big trouble for it. Usually, Sam was okay with her daughter going off to have a little fun, she never got to when she was little, but ever since Ophelia went off to face Vlad without telling her or Danny, and nearly dying because of it, Sam was terrified of what trouble her daughter was getting into and whether she would survive it. The law is already trying to get her killed with that horrible Bystander Contract, Ophelia should not help them obtain their goal.

The more of these worried thoughts whirled around Sam’s head as she cooked, the angrier she was at Owen at letting her baby go off and get herself hurt. She could tell that whatever Ophelia was doing was dangerous just by how pale Owen was getting by the minute. He was scared for her, which terrified Sam. She could see his guilt too. He was beating himself up for doing this for her. If he felt so bad about covering for his girlfriend, if he was so scared for her, why did he even agree to it in the first place? Sam knew that she and Danny may be the only people that had any kind of control over her, so she gave him that benefit, but even if he couldn’t keep her from going why can’t he just tell her where Ophelia was so she can go help her? Why is he just sitting there, sweating just about every ounce of water and salt and oil in his body? Staring at his feet as if his shoes were made of gold. Chewing at his lip until they were bright red and ready to bleed.

 _Just tell me!_ She thought, _Forget about getting yourself in trouble and tell me where my little girl is!_

“Alright, Owen, dinner’s ready.”

He jumped at the sound of her voice like it was gunfire.

“Thank you, Mrs. Fenton,” he rattled out. It was some kind of miracle that he wasn’t stuttering. “Where do you want me to sit?”

“Anywhere at the table is fine. But I need to go and feed Ophelia’s father his dinner, so you can just sit there and watch a little TV if you like.”  
  
“Thank you, Mrs. Fenton.” He said with a bow of his head. Who knew fear could make him behave like such a gentleman? Or was he always like that?

“Not at all. Could you give Ophelia a call to see how far she is from getting here, she must be walking around the world from the other direction to be taking this long to get here from school.”

“Y-yes ma’am”

As she returned to the kitchen, she could see his trembling hand reaching inside his pocket for his phone. Even Jazz wasn’t this bad at covering up back in the day.

As she set up a tray it finally hit her. What was she supposed to tell Danny? The doctors told her that the last thing he needed right now was stress. Any amount of emotional toll with making his recovery even slower and even increase the pain he’s already feeling. She couldn’t afford to add on to his existing pain, there weren’t a lot of means to alleviate it.

Normal painkillers don’t work on halfas, their immune systems are very tolerant. Morphine at best works as well as a nighttime cold medicine. His parents had developed a special painkiller for him as soon as they made that discovery about his body and after a particularly gruesome fight when he was nineteen. After medical officials approved of this special drug, they only allowed him very little when it was necessary, fearing that the drug could become addictive if used too much and having not enough halfas at the time to run a trial to prove it.  And so any time Danny got himself horribly injured like now, they would only give him enough of the drug to keep him from feeling complete agony.

He’s already worried about Ophelia doing these patrols without him, and he quietly muddled with the aches that came with his deep concern. He never told her but she knew, she felt the same way. But now she would have to tell him that she doesn’t know where their one and only child was, that her boyfriend downstairs may be the only person who knows where she is and how he’s breaking his back from the burden of the knowledge and the responsibility of keeping his girlfriend’s trust, that he, Danny Phantom, the Savior of Two Worlds, was completely incapable at saving his daughter of whatever peril she was in. The stress could very well kill him.

She had to tell him, though, she can’t pretend that there’s nothing wrong. Just as she can see his fears and worries that he tries to hide from her, so can he see hers. And even if this was one of the rarest of rare moments in which she could hide her emotions from him, what then? What was she suppose to tell him when she doesn’t come home the next day, or the next? What would she tell him if her body turns up somewhere….  
She shook that thought out of her mind. _She’s not dead,_ the thought, _just because you haven’t heard from her in an hour – or has it been two hours now? – doesn’t mean she’s dead. Come on, Sam, you’re stronger than this._

She took a deep breath and carried the tray out of the kitchen. When she was at the stairs, she took another look at Owen. He looked like he was introduced to his own ghost. Somehow, seeing Owen so worried made her feel a little better. Made her feel like she need to have it together so Owen can only worry about getting in trouble with her. She managed a smile and a confident aura as headed up the stairs.

“You should try to calm down,” she called from the stairs, “Owen, you look like you’re on death row.”

“Yes, Mrs. Fenton, sorry, Mrs. Fenton.”

Right as she reached the top of the step, the house started to shake. She dropped her tray and held onto the stair railing for support.

“Earthquake!” Owen shouted. He squeezed under the coffee table for cover.

“No, I don’t think it’s an earthquake. It feels like it’s coming from the end of the hall….”

The Realm!

Sam ran to the door at the end of the hall, the door that led to their realm in the Ghost Zone. Like she thought, the shake was coming from the door, the wall cracking around the edges of the door. What was happening? Could Pariah have recognized Danny’s logo on the door on the other side of the realm and is trying to break through? No, that can’t be right. Only a Fenton could open that door. It was rigged with a special ghost shield so no one, not even His Majesty the King of All Ghosts, could come in uninvited. Then what was going on?

Against her better judgment, she opened the door and looked inside. The realm was collapsing. Everything was falling apart. The walls, the ceilings, the floors. It was like looking inside a house during the most devastating of earthquakes. Somehow in the darkness and dust clouds, she saw some faint light dancing far down the halls. The light got bigger and brighter until it became the shape of a person.

“Keep the door open!” shouted the light. Sam recognized the voice. She stepped back and left the door wide open. Dust clouds swirled into the Human Plane and something shot out through the doorway and skidded to a halt halfway across the hall. It was Ophelia. Her white hair was a sandy blonde from the layer of dust before the white rings turned it into a dull and faded black. The cracked red lenses stuck out from the dull colors that coated the rest of her. She was holding a backpack with broken straps in her hands, dust fell from it like snow. Sam lost her breath for a moment. She was alright, a little banged up and completely filthy, but still she was alright.

Sam could she Ophelia’s eyes flash from under the lenses.  She dropped the backpack.  
  
“Shut the door, shut the door!” Ophelia shouted with urgency.

Before Sam could comply, Ophelia raced to her side, pried the door out of her hands and slammed it shut. She pressed her back against the door and slid down. She covered her head with her arms protectively. Sam then realized that the house was shaking harder. Instinctively, she knelt down and covered Ophelia. The harder the house shook, the tighter she held onto her. Her eyes were shut, but she could see a light through the lids. She opened an eye to find red lights leaking through the cracks in the door. It may have easily been a trick of the mind, but it looked like the door was starting to glow red too. She shut her eyes and held her daughter tighter, she feared that she might give her bruises.

Suddenly and finally, after what seemed like an hour, the light was gone. And so was the shaking. Sam opened her eyes to see what happened, but did not dare let go of Ophelia yet. The house was more or less in tact. She could see the lamps in the living room were broken as well as the vases, the flowers strewn all across the soaked carpets. She saw Owen crawl out from under the coffee table, from where she stood he looked unharmed.

“I think it’s over,” she told Ophelia, “Are you okay, honey?”

She could feel Ophelia try to nod her head. “I think so.” She whispered.

Sam let go of her to get a better look. There were no scars, not as far as she could see, so at least there are no severe injuries.

“How about you?” Ophelia asked her.

“I’m fine.” She said automatically. At least, she felt fine. She didn’t feel anything fall on her or cut her. She quickly checked herself to make sure. There were no cuts or bruises on her at all, just a lot of dust from holding Ophelia.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Sam then noticed the door behind them, or lack there of. The door was completely gone, leaving an empty wall behind. No one would’ve thought there was a door there at all if it wasn’t for the rectangular outline made by the cracks. Sam touched the wall, needing to feel it to make sure that there was no door. Out of the corner of her eye, Sam could see Ophelia follow her arm to the wall and put her hand there as well.

“The door, what happened to the door?” Ophelia said with a slight panic to her tone.

“The Realm, our realm, it’s gone.” Even though she knew it was impossible, even though she had no other evidence but the empty wall to prove it, she knew it was true. The realm Danny had since he was eighteen, his first property. Their first home together, and their only stable home they ever had since the 25th, was gone.

She turned to Ophelia. So many emotions came when she saw her daughter’s dirty and unharmed face, but somehow only anger shown through.  
  
“Ophelia, what happened? What did you do!”

Ophelia’s eyes went to the ground. They then darted back to the backpack and she dashed towards it.

“I got something for Dad, it’s going to make him better.”

She unzipped the backpack and pulled out a balled up sweatshirt. Ophelia unwrapped it to reveal a metal water bottle. It was clean and intact, the polar opposite to the backpack Ophelia produced it from. She was holding it gingerly from the top, as if the metal part would burn her. Sam was confused.

“It’s water,” Ophelia explained, “From the Spring of Life, a place deep within the ancient realms of the Ghost Zone. All Dad needs to do is drink this and he’ll be good as-“  
  
“The Ancient Realms? As in the most dangerous place that no one has been there in thousands of years Ancient Realms? Not even your father is dumb enough to go in there!”

“There wasn’t anyone there, Mom, the place was dead. Everybody left the Ghost Zone and the whole dimension is asleep.”

“That’s because the Ghost Zone is too dangerous. If you haven’t noticed, the Ghost King is free! If he found you, he would’ve killed you before he could find out what you are, god forbid if he knew who your father is!”

“But Mom, he didn’t kill me. I made it out of his grasp alive and-“

“You fought him!”

“No, no, of course not! I fought his _soldiers_ and ran _away_ from him.”

Sam was shaking with rage. Ophelia seemed to finally sense her anger. Her eyes dimmed and went to the ground.

“Do you _enjoy_ tempting fate! Do you even _care_ about how me or your father or _any_ of you friends will feel if you got yourself hurt _or worse!_ Right when I think you have done the most stupid and reckless thing you could possibly do, you find a way to raise the bar!  I was worried sick about you, I thought you died and I didn’t even _know_ what you were doing! Owen looked like he was about to keel over and die from worrying over you! Is being safe so boring for you that you have to find a new way to put yourself in danger now that Vlad is put away? I’m tired of seeing everyone around me get hurt, it’s killing me! I just wish you could understand that and spare me a sleepless night.”

Ophelia’s eyes glistened, Sam knew that she was fighting back tears.

“It’s my fault that Dad got hurt. I just wanted to do something good _for once_ , to make up for the pain I’ve caused. I don’t like seeing Dad in that cast and you having to take care of the both of us on your own. I thought the patrols would make me feel better and that I’m doing something good, but all it did is made me feel tired. I’m not cut out for this hero stuff, Mom, I can’t do it alone.”

Ophelia lost her fight and the tears broke through. Sam’s anger evaporated at the sight. She went up to Ophelia and tried to console her. Sam became very aware that Owen was standing at the top of the stairs. She gave him a look to tell him he shouldn’t be seeing such a personal family moment. He got the message very clear.

“Um, thanks for having me over, Mrs. Fenton. I wish it didn’t turn out so…”

“Just go home, Owen!” She growled at him. Without another word, Owen darted out of the house as fast as he could.

* * *

“…So the water worked like a charm, my Dad is completely healed. Because of that, I don’t have to go on patrols anymore and I can finally sleep at night.”  
  
“And all it cost you was your family’s realm and you’re grounded for as many weeks as it would’ve taken your dad to recover on his own.”

“And I won’t have my powers until after the time it would take him to complete physical therapy as well.”  
  
“I would say that I hate to say ‘I told you so’, but that would be a lie.”

Ophelia, Owen, and Trix were sitting at an outdoor lunch table at school. Ophelia had just finished telling her story to Trix and filled Owen in on what her sentence was. She flicked at her inhibitor cuff, keeping a tempo with the small clicks.

“Go ahead, laugh it up, I don’t care. At least I get to sleep long enough to dream about having my powers back.”

“And about the dates you could’ve had with Owen if you hadn’t screwed up royally. Speaking of which, what happened to you? Aiders and abetters don’t usually get away scot free.”

“Mrs. Fenton called my mom and told her what I did. She just about blew a gasket. Now I’m grounded and have to take Millie to the doctor next week, and the dentist the week after that. And to top it all off, she locked all my art supplies away in the shed. I don’t remember my hands ever being so clean.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever _seen_ your hands without paint.” Ophelia added, taking one of his hands to inspect. “Else I would’ve noticed the cute little freckles on the back of your hands.”

Trix smiled, absolutely pleased with herself.

“Well I hope you two learned your lesson.”

“Yes,” Ophelia said in the tone of a scolded child. “Never go into the Ghost Zone while the Ghost King is around.”

“When Ophelia asks you to cover for her, don’t do it.”

“I was looking for something more like ‘listen to your buddy Trix, she knows what she’s talking about’, but that works too.”

“Oh, yeah,” Ophelia went into her backpack and tossed a book at her. “Here’s your guide thing back. I’m sorry I stole it, but I needed it to find the Spring.”

Trix picked up the book and put it away in her bag.

“That should’ve been your first indicator that your idea was bad.”  
  
“Okay, okay, I get it. It was a bad idea. I should have let my dad heal on his own and sucked it up about the patrols. Can we let it die now?”

“You know, any other ghost would take offense to that term.” Trix got up from the table and slung her bag over her shoulder. “I’ve got to get to class. Thanks for my book back, Phé, hopefully we can hangout at my place once you can see the light of day again.”

“Sure, sure.” Ophelia said. She waved Trix goodbye, “Catch you later.”

With that, Trix was gone. Ophelia sunk her head and groaned into the table. Owen placed a hand on her back as a comforting gesture.

“It’s alright, Phé, six to eight months isn’t so long. We can go out and celebrate our freedom then. We can starting planning it out now, if you want.”

Ophelia lifted her head just enough to see his from her arms. He could see a hint of a smile from behind her arms.

“You shouldn’t have to put up with me.” She said.

“I want to. You’re one of my closest friends, and my girlfriend, more than enough reason to help you when you’re in need, and suffer the consequences whatever they are.”

Ophelia’s eyes darted back down to the table.

“Is it crazy that I don’t regret my decision?”

Owen looked at her like had sprouted a second head.   
  
“I mean, yes, I do regret losing my realm, and yes, I regret being attacked by the Ghost King and his army, and I definitely don’t like getting grounded. But getting that water for my dad to he can get out of that cast, how good it felt to see him so happy to walk on his own two feet again, I don’t know, it made it all seem worth it.”

Owen couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Yes, Ophelia, I think it’s insane. I guess that means I like crazy girls.”

Ophelia pulled herself off the table and trapped him in a hug.   
  
“And I guess that means I like boys who like crazy girls.”


	20. The Foleys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tucker moves back to Amity park with his and Valerie's kids.

The Bureau of Ghostly Affairs, why did Danny ever agree to join them? They were nothing more than the human version of the Observants with their own enforcing agents. The only good thing about them is that they cared about the treatment of ghosts more than their predecessors, the Guys in White. When the Bureau was first founded, the Fentons were first asked to help develop it. Who better to create an organization for the justice of both ghosts and humans than the world’s leading paranormal scientists? Or their half-ghost son whose been walking between both worlds more times than any living person in history? Valerie took the job as an agent of the Bureau with honor, Sam, Tucker and Danny took it with suspicion. The three only agreed to join so as to keep a close eye on this new organization, make sure that it doesn’t do anything to abuse their power and throw off the balance between the realities of the living and the dead (like, oh say, shoot an anti-ecto missile into the Ghost Zone in hopes to eradicate all ghosts). Their small position kept them in the loop and gave them some power to stop whatever aggressive action before it could be devised, but it also left them vulnerable to the obligations and responsibilities of an agent. Valerie was now affected by this vulnerability as she and Dani were being under investigation of the release of the King of All Ghosts.   
  
Danny and Sam had to sit with them in the conference room of the 13th precinct while members of both the Bureau and a couple of representatives of the Observants sat on the other end of the long table reviewing the reports.

“So, Captain Gray,” said one of the agents, “You say that the suspect, Ms….Vivian Redd, had set her weapon to a dangerous energy level and aimed it at the two of you. What happened next?”  
  
Right when Valerie was about to speak, Dani interrupted.

“Then I made a duplicate of myself that remained invisible. This duplicate snuck behind Redd and knocked her unconscious.”

“I believe I was speaking to Ms. Gray, Ms. Fenton.” Said the agent in a patronizing voice. Danny hated when they talked like that, it made him feel like he was back in high school again. Though, he had spent an equal amount of time in a government facility as he did in the principle’s office so it wouldn’t be too incredulous he felt no different now as he did back then.   
  
“Oh, sorry,” Dani apologized meekly. The agent looked at her apathetically before returning to Valerie.

“Captain?”

“What she said is true,” said Valerie flatly. Her infallible composure expressed only respectable indifference, something Danny had seen on her hundreds of times during their crime fighting careers. It was one of her most admirable traits as an officer of the law.

“Once the suspect was apprehended, I directed Warden Fenton’s attention towards Redd’s gun. By that time, it was too late to deactivate and so all we could do is find cover before the weapon exploded, which Ms. Fenton had produced with he own ghostly energy.”  
  
“And so, Vivian Redd’s ecto-weapon exploded and it caused the destruction of the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep.”

“Thus freeing Pariah Dark and giving us no way to contain him.” added one of the Observants.

“Yes, we know.” Grumbled Dani.

“And let’s not forget that you had failed to apprehend Adam Worth as well.” Said another agent of the Bureau.   
  
“Understood.” Replied Valerie, “he escaped while we were occupied with Redd. May I add, we aren’t the first people to have been eluded by Worth, but we were the closest to apprehending him. And we recovered every item of his collection of stolen artifacts, which have been placed in a safe area until it is safe to return them to their rightful place in the Ghost Zone.”

Both agents and Observants gave her a look that Danny could not quite make out. One of the agents cleared his throat.

“Yes, well, we are all very grateful for the recovery. It may make up for the failure to apprehend Worth-“

“But it does not in any way make up for the fact that Pariah Dark is loose,” said an Observant, “Not only putting the entire Ghost Zone at such a great risk that we had to evacuate an entire population, but puts the Earth in peril as well.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, we heard you the first time.” Dani said sharply. Valerie, Danny, and Sam all shot her a look, which she received with a careless scowl.

An agent scribbled some last few notes before closing the file.   
  
“In any other circumstance, we would have you at the very least suspended if not terminated. But since the entire ghost population has been relocated to Earth, we need as many active officers as we can. The Ghost Zone Police Department as well as the Observants have graciously donated their officers to many human departments, but sadly it is far from enough that we need. Thus, Captain Valerie Gray, as of now you are hereby placed under three months probation. Any order you give to your department must be checked with us and any arrest must be immediately reported directly to us. Another infraction such as this and you will be removed from your position, is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.” Said Valerie without emotion.

“As for you, Ms. Fenton,” said an Observant, “We appointed you as Warden in hopes you would do a better job than Walker, but we see that you are becoming worse than him. Whereas he creates his own rules to fill his prison cells and abide by no others, you break every one of them. We are not going to appoint someone to a position such as yours if they will simply ignore our orders. Thus, we are taking your power of Warden of the Ghost Zone Prison and place it upon ourselves. You are still in command of the Ghost Zone Police, but none of your actions shall be carried out unless you report them to us first.”  
  
“Got it.” Dani snipped.

“And as for you, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton,” Suddenly, all eyes were directed towards them. Danny knew that they weren’t brought here just to hear Dani and Val’s case, they had nothing to do with it after all. No, they were brought here for their own problem.  
  
“We see that you’ve have made a full recovery in such a short window of time, Mr. Fenton, care to explain how that is?”

Even though they planned on telling the truth, he and Sam had rehearsed to each other what they planned to say since Danny drank the Spring water. Something like this doesn’t hide under the radar of the Bureau or the Observants, at least not for long. Without any hesitation, Danny began.  
  
“As you know, I had received severe injuries from my last confrontation with Vlad Masters, a.k.a. Vlad Plasmius, leaving me incapacitated for a couple of weeks. Because of this, as stated in the Bystander Contract, my daughter had to take my place on the nightly patrols through Amity Park.”  
  
Without any cues, Danny stopped and let Sam continued for him.

“This new responsibility took a great toll on her. Her social life became nearly non-existent, because she couldn’t get a proper night’s sleep she would doze off in class, it goes without saying that her grades were starting to slip. And this was before the evacuation. It all got too much for her to deal with so she tried to find a way to have Danny recover earlier than predicted, so she wouldn’t have to do the patrols anymore.”

“And what exactly did she do that helped Mr. Fenton recover?”

Danny answered it for Sam.

“She heard about the Spring of Life, a water source found in the Ancient Realms of the Ghost Zone that is said to heal any injury and cure any disease. She went behind our backs to go look for it-“

“When the entire dimension had been evacuated and the Ghost King had claim over it all?” said an Observant in utter shock. “The Ancient Realms are dangerous to start with, let alone with Pariah under control.”

“If it helps, Ophelia said the Ghost Zone was rather dormant without ghosts there. There wasn’t anything challenging in her journey aside from Pariah’s men.”

“But she was still on unauthorized grounds, she was still putting herself in grave danger.”

“Yes, we know.” Said Sam. “Her friend knew better at the time. He tried to cover for her and within the first second I saw him, I knew something was wrong. I tried to get him to tell me, and he seemed about ready to tell me when Ophelia finally came home.”

“From what she told us,” Danny continued, “She almost made it when Pariah found her. Somehow, he was able to prevent any portals from opening for her, especially the ones she made herself. She had to run back to our home realm to get to the Human Plane. She made it inside, and then Pariah tried to kill her by destroying the realm around her.”

“We felt the house shaking before she made it through the door. I saw that the shaking was coming from the door to our realm and opened it. Almost immediately, Ophelia shot right through. She was covered in dust. She looked like she came out of a war zone. Then the shaking got worse and we had to brace ourselves. When the house finally stood still, the door to our realm is gone and thus the realm as well.”

The agent looked from Sam over to Danny.   
  
“And where were you during this whole thing, Mr. Fenton?”

“I was in our bedroom.” With a small laugh, he added. “Being in a full body cast kind of limits what you can do, like move.” He shouldn’t have made a joke. They don’t like jokes. They never liked jokes. “All that I can recall of the incident was that the house was shaking, as if it were a massive earthquake. I tried to call out for Sam and Ophelia, to see if they were okay, but didn’t get a reply. When it was over, I heard yelling. The yelling turned into something I recognized as crying. Then finally, Sam and Ophelia came into the room. They both looked like they were crying, but Ophelia looked like she did more than Sam, which is usually what happens. Ophelia had me drink from this metal bottle and I felt some of the pain go away. Eventually, I felt it all go away, and I phased through the cast completely healed and recovered. It was as if I had never broken my bones at all.”

“And so you were back to work on the field and your daughter got away with negligible behavior?”

Sam shot a look he knew well. It showed hostility in a subtle way. The receiver may not recognize that they were being threatened with the look, but they certainly wouldn’t feel safe challenging her skills or speaking ill of her family once they saw it.   
  
“No, she didn’t.” she said sharply, “She is being grounded for the amount of time it would’ve taken Danny to heal on his own. No television, no internet, no friends, and especially no powers.”  
  
“And what about her patrols, why can’t she do them during the nights?”  
  
“Because she is not obligated to participate in police activity unless she is within close proximity to crime, has some direct relationship to the crime, or if there are no other able bodied half ghosts to patrol the residing city. And since she is not allowed to leave the house aside from school, and since my husband has recovered, she is no longer required to give her services to the city’s law enforcement.”  
  
He loved when she spoke lawyer, even if he could hardly understand her at times.

“These are extenuating circumstances, Mrs. Fenton, we need as many able bodied officers as we can get and unfortunately that means your daughter as well.”

“I doubt you are so desperate for people on the field that you would draft children.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you and your husband weren’t any older than her when you started ghost fighting. Neither was Valerie and Danielle was even younger.”

The age thing, that’s what always got them. How stupid they were as kids. Fighting ghosts because they could and believed they should, not knowing that their actions would haunt them well into their adult years and affect their children.  
  
“And if _I’m_ not mistaken, we weren’t legal representatives of the law. We were vigilantes. No one at that time would willingly put children in the line of danger like that, and certainly no one at this time should.”

“She agreed to abide by the rules stated in the Bystander Contract-”

“And she has. I have read through and revised the Contract before any member could sign. I know every letter and comma on that document and none of it mentions anything about exigent circumstances. She is our daughter and we know what is best for her.”

He could feel the tensions buzzing like an electrical current. Sam was gearing up for a fight, and so were the agents, so were the Observants. The last thing they needed right now was to go to court, he had to stop this before it got any worse.

“Wait, I nearly forgot.” He went into his wife’s bag and pulled out a metal water bottle.

“All I needed were a few sips of the Spring water to heal me, so there was plenty leftover. I thought the Bureau would like to have it examined properly.”

The Bureau agents eyed the bottle suspiciously, as if it they weren’t sure if it wasn’t a novelty can of snakes. One of the agents took it, unscrewed the cap and looked inside. He moved the bottle around to swirl the contents inside.

“One of the things I suggest you look into,” added Danny, “Ophelia can’t touch the water without it burning her. They make the blood blossoms imbedded in her tissues stronger. I would like to know why the water would strengthen the parasite and not cure the host.”

Bribery, maybe not the most ethical way to go but it is effective. There was no way these people would go away empty handed, they would either have his child on the field or something else equally as useful. This water had power, it holds secrets to cure all diseases. There was no doubt they would want to test it to see if its properties could be replicated. And forfeiting it with the information that it was his daughter’s weakness, something they love to hear more but wouldn’t fully admit, was icing on the cake.

The agents looked at each other and then back to Danny.

“Thank you, Mr. Fenton, this is very generous of you.”

“Think nothing of it.”

“And as for the issue of Ophelia, Ms. Manson does have a point. She is your child, and we have no legal grounds to make her go back on patrols. As long as she remains under your care and supervision, and as long as no infractions are committed by her, we’ll leave this alone.”

Danny smiled and looked over to Sam. To his surprise, she was glaring at him angrily. He did something wrong, but what?

* * *

Ophelia hated being grounded primarily for the fact that she’d get so bored so easily. She had no TV to watch, no Internet to play any games or whatever. She had done her homework and read every book assigned to her up to her PhD. The house was spotless and she could only play with Cujo so much until she got tired or he got too restless to stay in the yard. She went into the greenhouse to tend to the plants, but when she found they were perfectly fine she ended up lying flat on the ground staring at the glass ceiling in hopes for something interesting to happen.

She sensed Owen coming out of his house and smiled. She picked herself from the ground and left the greenhouse. She went to the fence and knocked on it. The next moment, there was a knock back on the same spot. Ophelia laughed.

“Hey Pyramus” she joked.

“Hey Thisbe” returned Owen.

“How’s the grounding thing going for you?”

“Brutal, I haven’t touched a paintbrush in days. My mom’s even withholding writing utensils and only gives me a pen for my homework, which she monitors. What about you?”

“I’m _dying_ over here. I think I was better off staying on the patrols, at least I had _some_ stimulation.”

“And your powers.”

“Sure, that too.”

She leaned her back against the fence and slid down. She looked straight onwards, towards the locked shed where all her little transportation toys were hidden away, towards the greenhouse that had a whole spectrum of colors imbedded into the many shades of green, and to the apple tree with its fruit fell in piles along with amber leaves.

“I don’t think I’m that kind of person who can just sit around. I need to do something, move around, change altitudes, something. I feel all this energy building up and I feel like I’m going to explode if I don’t let it out.”

“First I have to carry your sleepy self out of the basement from having _too much_ to do, now I have to worry about you blowing up because you have _too little_? Are you ever satisfied?”

“I will be if we ever get to actually date, or at least hang out on the same side of the fence.”

“What, isn’t this fun?”  
  
“Well, Pyramus, I don’t know about you but I’d like to see a person’s face when I’m talking to them…unless I have a phone pressed to my ear.”  
Owen was quiet for a moment.  
  
“My parents are out of the house, they’re out at a birthday party for one of Millie’s friends. What about yours?”

“They’re out on a….work thing. Knowing how those things go, they won’t be back soon.”

She heard some noises coming from the fence. She looked up to see Owen clambering over the fence. She can see that he was trying to be careful, but climbed on clumsily. Before she could even think about it, he fumbled on his grip and fell on her lap.   
  
“Ow!”  
  
“Sorry”

He pulled himself up and found himself in a rather awkward position leaving his face inches from hers. Both of them blushed.

“Is this your way of being romantic?” she stammered.

“Depends, do you like it?” she could see he immediately regretted his words.

 _Don’t kiss him._ she thought to herself, _As perfect as this moment may look, don’t kiss him._

“I…”

Just then, the doorbell rang. She felt a wave of relief.

“I’ve got to get that.”                         

She scrambled out from under Owen and raced back inside. She could see Owen following hesitantly after her.

“Do you think it’s your parents? What if they find me here? Your dad’s going to kill me and leave my ghost for my mother!”

“Dude, why would my parents ring the doorbell to a house they live in? Especially when my dad can walk through walls.”

“Oh, right” he replied with a bashful expression.

“At least you’re cute.” She teased.

She opened the door and found a familiar face on the other side. He was a black man of average height and seldom muscle tone. He couldn’t be no older than his late thirties with crew cut hair and thick framed glasses. Ophelia let out a happy shriek and pounced a hug in him.

“Uncle Tucker!” she screeched.

“Hey there, Tiny, looks like you’re growing out of the nickname.”  
  
“I’ve grown a good two inches since last time you saw me.”

“That you did. Are your parents around?”

“No, they’re out on a ‘work thing’ which is code for ‘getting stuck by the Man’. Auntie Val’s with them too.”  
  
“Yeah, I heard about that. Is it okay if we wait until your parents come home?”

“Of course you c- did you say ‘we’?”

“Phé!”

A little seven-year-old girl ran from behind Tucker and nearly knocked Ophelia down with her hug. She looked up at Ophelia, her turquoise eyes barely peeking through her infinite curls.

“Marti! My goodness, I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“I lost my last baby tooth last month, see all these?” She ran her finger across her bared teeth. “These are big people teeth.”

“They are? How did they manage to fit in such an adorable little mouth? How much did the Tooth Fairy give you for your little choppers?”

“There is no Tooth Fairy,”

Then entered Francis, Tucker and Valerie’s eldest child.

“And I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t fill my little sister’s head with fairy tales.”

A boy no older than Ophelia herself, but a great deal taller, Francis had his mother’s deep green eyes and a short crop of hair, which he appeared to be growing out as dreadlocks. He came in with a somewhat engrossed backpack slung over his shoulder and thinly guised look of disdain. Ophelia had to suppress a scowl when she saw him. His eyes went to Ophelia’s wrist and the Cuff latched onto it.

“Looks like somebody got in trouble again.” He teased lightheartedly.

It was then that Tucker noticed the Cuff on her wrist.

“Uh oh, what did you do this time?”

Ophelia blushed, and having her powers neutralized she couldn’t turn invisible to hide it.

“Um, it’s kind of a long story.”

“There’s plenty of time to tell us before your parents get home.”

“It’s really dumb, you won’t want to hear it. Do you want me to get you guys something?”  
  
Marti started bouncing excitedly.

“Do you have any choco-pops?”

“Marti, you know you’re supposed to cut back on the sweets.” Scolded Tucker. “You know how you get.”

“Aww, can’t I have one little itty bit of ice cream?” Marti begged.

“Maybe after dinner.”

“But that’s _forever_!”

“There’s a lot of things you can do between now and forever. You can go get your video games from the car if you like.”

“Okay”

With that, Marti dashed out the front door. Ophelia turned to her godfather and smiled.

“Do you need anything?”  
  
“A coffee would be nice, you know how to make one?”

“Dad lets me help him when he brings home machinery from the ISS to repair. I think I know how to operate a simple coffee maker, Uncle Tucker.”

“Then you can make me one too while you’re at it.” Said Francis.  
  
“Sure thing,” she chirped, under her breath she said “Franny”

She walked into the kitchen and Tucker followed. Francis stayed in the living room and took in his surroundings. It was then that he drew his attention to Owen, who had been standing in the doorway on the opposite side of the room the whole time.  
  
“Who are you?” asked Francis.

“I’m Owen, I live next door.” Replied Owen, “I’m guessing you’re a friend of Ophelia’s.”

“She’s my god sister.”

“I guess that makes that guy her godfather?”

“Who else would he be?”

“I’ve heard Phé talk about her godparents before, but I don’t remember her saying anything about their kids.”

“Of course she wouldn’t.”

It was then that Owen noticed how much colder Francis sounded compared to when his father was in the room.

“You’re a little more than her neighbor, aren’t you?”

Owen was startled at his question, especially the tone in which he asked it. He felt like he was under interrogation.

“Um, yeah, actually, she’s my girlfriend.”

Francis raised an eyebrow and smiled, like there was a joke that Owen was not getting.  
  
“Funny, I never expected her to fall for someone with a pulse. I guess I should warn you then.”  
  
“About what?”

“About her. She’s nothing but trouble. Stay around her too long and she’ll ruin your life.”

“Hey Franny,” shouted Ophelia from the kitchen, “Your coffee is ready!”

“Coming!” he shouted back, he turned back to Owen. “You want to come in? My dad will get a kick out of seeing you, and my little sis.”

“No thanks, I’m okay. I’m actually not supposed to be here.”

Francis laughed.  
  
“Oh, so she already got you into trouble, how sad.”  
  
“It’s not like that.”  
  
“You sure?”  
  
Owen did not know what to make of this guy.

“Whatever, I’m leaving.”

Owen turned and headed back out to the backyard and the fence.

“I’m only warning you.” He heard Francis say.

He didn’t respond, he was too frustrated.

* * *

Danny and Sam came home late in the evening when the sun had just been swallowed into the horizon. They had expected Ophelia to greet them at the door like she’s done since she was grounded, but she was not there. They reached the front steps and heard voices inside.  
  
“I thought you said you blocked the TV.” Sam accused Danny.

“I did, and shut down the wi-fi.” He defended.

“Then she must be talking to actual people, and she’s not supposed to have anyone over.”

“If it’s Owen, then I think I should give him one of my talks.” Danny said, his eyes flashing green.

“I don’t think he’s brave enough, or suicidal or dumb enough, to defy his parents and us to see her.”  
  
“He’s a teenage boy with a girl he likes living right next door, that’s enough for all three categories.”

Danny opened the door. To their surprise, they found Marti on their couch, playing a video game with Cujo asleep on her lap.

“Marti?”

Marti looked up from her video game. A gleeful surprise showed on her face.

“Uncle Danny, Auntie Sam!”

She hopped off the couch, forgetting the ghost dog and letting him fall to the ground. Cujo was awakened by the fall. He sat up, gave a baffled snort, and then sauntered off. Marti jumped at Danny and caught him in a hug. He hugged back, keeping her from falling off of him.

“Hey, sweetie, my have you gotten big.” Danny said.

“And I lost all my baby teeth.”

“Big teeth for a big girl, right Sam?”

“Definitely, let me see a big girl smile.”

Marti gave them a smile big enough to show all of her permanent teeth.

“Wow, look at all those teeth! You better take good care of them, because those are the only ones you get for the rest of your life. Don’t let them fall off, now.”

“I won’t.”

“Danny, Sam.”

Tucker stood at the doorway to the kitchen. Sam went over to greet him, Danny following her after he placed Marti down. Sam gave him a hug, Danny a handshake that turned into a hug.   
  
“Tucker, man, it’s been ages since we’ve seen you.” said Danny.

“Only a couple of years. It would’ve been easier to see you guys if you stopped moving around all the time. Somehow, I knew you’d end up back here.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. The Fentons are here to stay.”

“I know, I heard. Congrats on taking down Vlad, you guys must be so relieved.”

“Relieved doesn’t begin to explain how we feel.” Added Sam. “Although we would feel better if we didn’t have to worry about the Ghost King.”

Tucker’s smile faded.

“Yeah, I heard about that too. It’s kind of the reason why I’m here.”

“They told us in the hearing. Did you tell the kids yet?”

“No, not yet. I thought I would wait until you guys got here before telling them the great news.”

“What great news?”

Ophelia was a little ways behind them in the kitchen. They could see Francis behind her, with less interest than Ophelia. Sam, Danny, and Tucker all looked at each other and smiled. Now was a good time as any.

“Well,” started Danny, “Since the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep has been destroyed, we need to develop a new way to contain Pariah when we defeat him.”

“And so the Bureau hired me to develop a device powerful enough to contain the Ghost King.” Tucker said with great pride.

“That’s awesome, Uncle Tucker,” Ophelia said, happily, “If anyone can create such a thing, it would be you.”

“I can hardly imagine the big government paycheck you’re going to get for this one, Dad,” said Francis from the kitchen, “You’ll probably never have to work again, not that you have to now.”

“It gets better,” said Tucker, “They’re also having me relocate here to be closer to Danny and better my research.”

Ophelia’s eyes dimmed.  
  
“Relocate? You don’t mean…”

“That’s exactly what I mean, the Foleys are moving to Amity Park!”

“What!” said the two teenagers simultaneously. Francis raced from his place in the kitchen, he was in a state of utter shock. Ophelia gave a dazed look.

“Dad, you can’t be serious? We can’t move, all my friends are back in Glendale.”

“Not to mention this place is dangerous,” Ophelia added, “there are ghosts everywhere, and not all of them are nice.”

“You wouldn’t want Marti to live in such a dangerous place like this.”

“Nonsense, this place is as safe as any other town.” Said Sam.  
  
“And I think it’s good if your mother and I live in the same city. It will be nice for Marti to see more of her mother, same for you.”

“And Ophelia knows a lot of people in Casper High,” said Danny, “and a lot of her friends have younger siblings Marti’s age. You two will fit right in no time flat.”

“But, but,” the teens said once again in unison. They exchanged irritated looks for it.

“No worries, you guys will adjust to it just fine.” said Tucker. “In fact, tomorrow’s Sunday, right? Ophelia, how about you give Francis and Marti a tour about the town.”

Ophelia’s eyes went wide, her pupils nearly disappeared.   
  
“Gee, Uncle Tucker, I’d love to, but I’m still grounded. I’m not supposed to leave the house unless it’s to go to school.”

“It’s alright, Phé,” said Danny, “we’ll let you out tomorrow just this once, I think showing your god siblings around their new home is a perfectly good excuse from a day of grounding.”

“But you would still have to keep the Cuff on.” Added Sam.  
  
Ophelia smiled funny again. “Great”

“But we don’t need to be showed around,” argued Francis, “We come here to see Mom every summer, we know our way around here well enough.”

“Come on, you guys, I thought you would be happy about all this.”  
  
“We are,” said Ophelia abruptly, “of course we are. Why wouldn’t we be? Now I get to see my god sister all the time.” In a less enthusiastic tone, she said, “and I get to see my god brother _all the time_.” She gave Francis a hug while she said this.

Francis gave a hug back, it almost seemed forced.   
  
“Isn’t this wonderful that we get to see each other… All. The. Time.”

The parents were happy to see how much their kids liked each other. Just like they were real siblings.  
  
“Good thing that’s settled,” said Danny, to Tucker he said: “How about you guys stay over for dinner?”  
  
Tucker smiled.

“I thought you would never ask….Sam’s not cooking, is she?”

“Ha, ha, very funny.” Said Sam,

“I'll cook.” Danny said.

“Maybe we can invite Auntie Val over.” Ophelia chirped happily.  
  
Marti, who had this whole time been occupied with her video game, perked up at her mother’s name. She set her game down on the coffee table and ran up to her father. She wrapped her small arms around one of his and pulled down on it slightly.  
  
“Is Mommy coming over, Daddy, is she?”

“Of course she is, sweetie.”

Marti cheered happily.

“Are we still going to be staying over with Mom or did you already buy a house?” asked Francis. He came out of the hug somewhat abruptly while he spoke.

“No, I haven’t actually found a place yet, so we’ll be staying over with your mother for the time being. But I have a few listings I plan on looking at tomorrow, so we won’t be staying with her for too long.”  
  
“Isn’t that house across the street up for sale?” Danny asked Sam.

“The house next to the de Fleurs? Yeah I think so.”

“Maybe you should check out that place too while you’re looking, then we can be neighbors.”

There was an exchange of looks between Ophelia and Francis that didn’t seem all too excited

* * *

“I’m telling you, that kid is weird.”

Owen had just finished telling Mick and Wal his encounter with Francis while they were waiting for their homeroom class to start. They sat towards the window, away from the rest of the class so no one else would hear. Owen felt weird telling his story to his two best guy friends, he didn’t want anyone else to know.

“So you’re telling me he just acts aloof the whole time but as soon as no one’s around, he just walks up to you and tells you Phé’s trouble?” asked Mick.

“Exactly. And you should’ve seen her when he was around, I had never seen her so nervous.”

“That doesn’t sound like the Phé we know,” said Wal, “The Phé we know would’ve called that kid out for being so cold, even if they are related. No telling what she’d do if she heard him telling people she’s dangerous.”

“Don’t you think I know that? There is something going on between those two and I don’t like it.”

“How are these two related again?” asked Mick.

“He’s her god brother. Apparently, their parents have been best friends since they were Millie’s age and became god parents to each others’ kids.”

Mick and Wal exchanged looks that Owen couldn’t quite place.

“What did you say Francis’ Dad’s name was?”

“I only heard her call her Uncle Tucker, I didn’t hear a last name. Why?”

They had that excited look he’d only see when the comic book store had a signing.

“Dude, that’s Tucker Foley!” Mick said,  “As in founder, CEO, and Head Inventor of FoleTech Foley. He’s _the_ biggest thing in the technology world since Bill Gates and Steve Jobs _combined_.”

Owen tilted his head to the side as he scanned through his memories to recall the name.

“FoleTech… I think I’ve heard of that company before.”

“You should, FoleTech software is in practically every computer and cell phone on Earth. And let’s not forget that he developed the first device to trace and identify a ghost’s unique ecto-signature, making a breakthrough in GHCU forensics.”

“Hadn’t Ophelia ever mention that to you before?” asked Wal, “You are her boyfriend.”

Owen felt indignant.

“You know how she is about family stuff, just because I’m dating her doesn’t make her magically open up about that.”

“Not even that her godparent is a filthy rich computer genius?” asked Mick.

“Apparently” said Wal.

“I bet Francis must have all kinds of cool tech stuff in his room that aren’t even on the market. Hey, you think he’ll let us see some of it? “

Owen was outraged.

“Dude! What about Ophelia!”

“What, you’d think she like to see some of his cool tech stuff too?”

Owen banged his head against his desk.

“I swear, you have the attention span of a cheese puff.”

“Cheese puffs are a snack food, they don’t have attention spans.”

“Exactly!”

Sparing Owen from enduring anymore, the bell rang. Everyone found their seat and waited patiently for class to start. No sooner after the last kid found their seat, the teacher entered.

“Class, before we begin our lesson, I’d like to introduce to you a new student to our school.”

The teacher waved in someone at the doorway and the boy appeared. Owen’s eyes widened with disbelief. In a not-so enthusiastic tone, the teacher introduced him.

“This is Francis Foley, he comes to us all the way from Chicago.  Mr. Foley, why don’t you tell the class a little about yourself?”

Francis gave a modest smile and cleared his throat.

“Well, I don’t exactly come from Chicago, I live in a small town not too far away from it, and my Dad used to commute there for work. Now he’s got this new job and moved me and my sister here. My mom actually lives here and works as the commanding officer of GHCU, my sister and I come here to visit her twice a year so I know how to get around.”

Mick raised his hand, Owen looked surprised. What is he doing!

Francis saw the hand and confusedly pointed to him.

“Um…I didn’t know I was taking questions, but okay, what’s up?”

“Would your dad happen to be Tucker Foley?” Mick asked. Owen facepalmed himself.

“Uh, actually yeah. He is. And before you ask, he’s _that_ Tucker Foley who single-handedly created FoleTech Industries.”

The whole class murmured in adoration. Owen didn’t see his classmates this riled up since Ophelia first came to Casper. He, on the other hand, wasn’t so excited.

“You must have all this cool stuff before they even get on the market.”

One thing Owen knows about his friend: Mick does not waste time.

“Well, kind of. I can bring some things over sometime to show around, if you guys want.”

The whole class cheered. It was clear that Francis was going to be a popular kid around Casper. There was no better way to win over your peers like showing off your wealth and letting them see all the cool stuff you have. It seemed like Owen was the only one who saw it for what it was. But then again, Owen was the only one to see him outside this classroom.

* * *

“I don’t get what your problem is, Owen, I think he’s pretty cool.”

Mick, Em and Owen were the first ones to get to the lunch table. The boys had just filled her in on what happened in homeroom this morning, explaining Owen’s not-so-sweet mood.

“That’s because you want to look at all the gadgets he has.” Owen grumbled, “You should’ve seen him at the Fenton’s house, he’s a completely different person.”

“Who’s a completely different person?”

Abi and Darcy came in with their food and sat across from each other at the table.

“Have you heard of the new guy, Francis?”

“Yeah, isn’t he cool!” Abi said excitedly. Leave it to her to swing with the rest of the school.

“Well, he’s Ophelia’s god brother. And if you saw how he acts outside of school, you wouldn’t think he was cool.”

“I know what you mean,” Em interjected, “Trix and I saw the two of them the other day, they weren’t exactly acting friendly towards each other.”

“Wait, when did you see Phé and the new kid?” Abi asked.

“Yesterday at the Mall.”

“Was this before or after you ditched us and we had to get carried away by security?” Darcy inquired.

“Hey, you guys started all that, we just wanted to get out of trouble.”

Owen stepped in to keep the conversation back on track.

“But Francis, he was pretty bad right?”

“He called her Necrophelia, and when she was spending just two seconds to talk to us, he pulled her away threatening to get her in trouble with their parents. Watching them was the most uncomfortable experience I’ve ever been through.”

“When I was over at the Fenton’s house, he tells me that Ophelia’s going to ruin my life if I don’t stay away from her. I’m telling you, this kid is bad news.”

Abi smiled and shot her hand to her mouth to cover her giggle. The whole table looked at her, confused at her reaction.

“Abi, I don’t think that was suppose to be funny.” Said Darcy.

“But don’t you guys get it?”

“Get what?”

“The names, the teasing, warning her boyfriend to stay away; he’s got a crush on her.”

The table exchanged looks before going back to Abi.

“Where did you get that idea from?” asked Darcy.

“Well, think about it. This guy must’ve gown up with her all their lives, so when he developed feelings for her, he doesn’t know how to express them so he picks on her to cover them up. The reason why he’s telling Owen to stay away is because he’s jealous of him.”

Owen gave an incredulous look.

“Someone jealous of me? That’s ridiculous, what is there to be jealous of?”

“You got Danny Phantom living next door to you and you’re dating his daughter without him trying to scare you away…yet. That would make quite a few people jealous.”

“But not Francis, he’s Danny Phantom’s godson.”

“That’s besides the point, he likes her and he’s too scared to show it. Maybe Phé already knows and is trying to be polite about it to spare his feelings, like she did with you.”

“She knew I liked her?”

“ _Everyone_ knew you liked her, the only person who didn’t know was you.”

“Abi, I don’t think Francis has a crush on her.” Said Darcy, “Only five-year-olds pick on people they like.”

“Oh yeah, what about Greg Nelson? Remember, he had a crush on you for the whole year and called you Dumb-dumb Darcy.”

“And when was that?”

“Kindergarten.”

“Told you, five-year-old.”

“I’m telling you, he’s got a crush on her and he’s too afraid to say anything.”

“Who’s got a crush on who?”

Everyone was in a stunned silence when Ophelia came in with Wal and Trix. The five of them looked at each other, silently debating whether or not to continue the conversation now that she was here. Abi quickly left the debate and turned to Ophelia.

“We were just talking about your buddy Francis.” She told her.

There was some faint flicker in Ophelia’s eyes, like a nervous tick.

“Oh, really? What about?”

Abi smiled at her.

“You know.” She teased.

“Know what?”

“That he likes you but is too scared to admit it so he picks on you instead.”

Ophelia looked surprised.

“Likes me? Like, like-like, likes me? Is that what you think?”

“Well, yeah. I also think you know as well but you don’t want to hurt his feelings.”

The look of surprise turned into a look of annoyance. She clearly wasn’t amused by the theory in the slightest.

“No, and no.” she clipped.

Abi’s smile faded.

“No? What do you mean no?”

“That’s not what’s going on. You need to lay off the romance novels or teen movies or whatever’s giving you such stupid ideas.”

“Oh, come on, Phé, why else would he act that way around you?”

“Because he hates my guts.” Ophelia said bitterly.

No one knew what to say to that, they hadn’t expected an answer like that. Abi was particularly taken aback by the comment.

“What?”

Ophelia motioned her hand towards herself.

“All this, every part of it, Francis detests. If he had his way, he wouldn’t be in the same continent as me. No, strike that, if he had his way, I wouldn’t even be _born_.”

“Um, wow, a little over exaggerated much?”

“You’d think so, but no.”

“Do you have any idea why?” asked Darcy.

Ophelia fixed her eyes on the tray of food she was pushing around with her fork. Her head leaning on her hand propped up by her elbow on the table.

“I don’t know, really, it’s not like we sit down and have a civil chat about how we don’t like each other. This has been going on for as long as I can remember. Since we were four, after…”

She stopped herself. She bit her lip and looked up at the rest of the table.

“I tried to get along with him as much as I could, I really wanted to be friends with him. But you can only take the insults and cold shoulders for so long, you know? I ended up trying to get out of his way as best as I can. It’s definitely not the best relationship to have, but that’s what we have.”

“How do your parents sit with all this?”

She looked annoyed by the comment, deeply annoyed.

“Our parents don’t know anything about this, and I’d like to keep it that way. If they knew, they would try to fix it, and you can’t fix something that has been going on for ten years, not easily anyway.” She went back to pushing her food around, she was starting to lose her appetite. “And I don’t want to risk their friendship trying to fix ours.”

“You don’t know, Phé,” said Em, “Your mom fixed that problem my mom had with you guys pretty quickly.”  
  
“Yeah, and I still can’t figure out _how_ she did it.”

“Maybe she can fix this just as quickly. You’ll never know until you try.”

“The difference there is that was a problem that had been going on for less than a month, my problem with Francis has been going on for a _decade_.”

“Well, then what do you expect will happen? He’s moved into the town, you’re in the same grade in the same school, it’s not like you can avoid him.”

“Why not? I haven’t seen him yet, and it’s already halfway through the day. If I can go through a whole day without running into him, I think I can go through a whole year, or two, or all the way until graduation and then we go to completely different colleges on the other sides of the country.”

“You’re being ridiculous. You can’t seriously expect to avoid him forever.”

Ophelia looked at her both with depressed and deadest determination.

“I can try, can’t I?”

* * *

At the end of the school day, Owen passed by the art room with a longing dread. By this time, he would be in there, selecting his colors and his brushes, drawing out in his mind what he wanted to paint. But thanks to a phone call from his parents, he was banned from the art room for as long as he was grounded, getting credit in his class from long, boring reports on the history of painting. Instead of the art room, he was spending his afternoons walking to Overlook Elementary, waiting for Millie to get out so he could walk her home.

On his way out, he spotted Francis on the bottom of the steps. There were kids talking to him. Owen smirked. When the crowd cleared out, Owen walked up to him.

“From the new kid to the popular kid in less than a day,” he told him, “I think you just broke the Casper High record.”

Francis looked at him in a way Owen couldn’t place.

“I’m surprised, Ophelia’s very good at drawing attention to herself.”

Owen frowned.

“You know, she’s not as bad as you think.”

“I’ve know her for as long as we’ve both been alive, you’ve known her for a few months, I think I have a better understanding of how bad she is.”

Owen wanted to say something back, but he knew it was going to lead to an argument and arguments cause trouble and he could not afford to get into more trouble. Instead, he shrugged it off with a flat “Whatever” and headed towards Millie’s school. It was not long until he noticed Francis walked a little ways behind him, staring down at what Owen guessed correctly to be his phone. Owen turned around to face him.

“What are you doing?” Owen asked with some persecution.

“Going to Marti’s school to walk her home.” Francis said, barely looking up from the screen. Owen rolled his eyes. He didn’t need to know which school he was going to, there was only one elementary school on this side of town.

“Don’t you have some cool gadget to teleport you there, or a chauffeur to drive her home.”

“My dad doesn’t like people driving him unless it’s to an airport, the teleporter’s still in alpha testing, and according to my navigation app,” He held up his phone to Owen so he could see the map on the screen. “It’s only a ten minute walk.”

Owen looked from the phone to him and back.

“That route is having you go up the main road. Nobody goes up the main road without a car. It’s all uphill at a straight, forty-five degree angle.”

Francis looked at his phone puzzled.

“The school’s on a hill?”

“Why do you think it’s called Overlook Elementary?”

Francis tapped a few times on his phone before looking back at him.

“My phone’s only showing me routes using the main road, do you know a better one?”

“Yes, but I’m taking it.”

“Then I can just follow you.”

Owen sighed and turned around.

“Come on.”

Owen walked and Francis shortly followed after him. Originally, Owen thought Em or Mick would’ve taken the walk with him, since they both had younger siblings. It would’ve been nice, going up and down the hill like back when they used to go to Overlook Elementary. But he immediately found himself walking the path alone, since Em had to stay after for play rehearsals and as much as Mick respected their friendship and would love to help make his punishment less horrible, there was no way he was ever going up that hill again. He understood their reasons perfectly well, but he would’ve liked the company, just to have someone to talk to. But now that he had someone to accompany him on the walk, the silence never sounded sweeter.

“So, I hear you’re a good artist.” Francis said at an attempt break the silence.

“I paint, I draw, they’re okay.”

“What kind of stuff do you paint?”

“Anything, I guess, mostly stuff I base off these pictures Ophelia takes of the Ghost Zone.”

He heard a scoff.

“She’s still doing that stuff? Can you tell me how photography counts as art, you’re pointing at stuff and pushing buttons. Oh look, a pretty flower, oh look, a person in a hat, oh look, a sunset. At least what you’re doing takes skill, takes some imagination, all she’s doing is ripping off reality by putting it on a piece of paper, and doing a rather mediocre job at that.”

“Are you going to spend the whole walk ranting about how much you hate my girlfriend?”

Francis was quiet for a moment. Owen didn’t look back to see his face, but he imagined sour look on it.

“If you knew her like I do, you would know that there is little good to say about her.”

“I think I know her more than you think I do. She’s not as bad as you think.”

“You really think you know her so well?”

“Yes.”

“You know everything there is to know about Ophelia Lilith Fenton?”

“No, but I know her better than you.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because she trusts me.”

It was quiet again. Owen noticed that he could only hear his own set of footsteps and turned around. Francis had stopped a few paces back. His arms were crossed and he had a smug, you-don’t-really-believe-I’m-buying-this smile.

“She trusts you?” Francis said in disbelief.

“Yes, she trusts me,” Owen said indignantly, “And I trust her. I know everything she tells me is true and that she would never tell it to anyone else. She tells me because she knows I wouldn’t tell anyone or badmouth her behind her back, unlike you.”

Francis uncrossed his arms and adjusted his backpack as he walked up to Owen.

“You really think she trusts you that much? Fine, then she probably trusts you enough to tell you this: I’ve bet by now you seen those scars of hers.”

“Yeah, she told me she’s had those since she was four.”

“She told you how they were on her all the time?”

“Yes, she did.”

“Then you know why you can’t see them now?”

The word “yes” got caught in Owen’s throat.

“I…I never thought of it.”

“So you don’t know?”

“I never asked.”

“Ask her. Next time you see her, ask her.”

“But that’s not fair. She never likes to talk about her scars, she shuts down at the very mention of them. If I hadn’t seen those things for myself, I would’ve never found out about them at all.”

“I guess she doesn’t trust you enough to tell you about such sensitive information.” With a scoff, he added “And you said you were her boyfriend.”

“I _am_ her boyfriend, and she _does_ trust me.”

“If she trusts you, then she’ll tell you. If not, then we will both know how little you mean to her.”

“And if she tells me, you promise to back off?”

“I’ll never mention her to you again, _only_ if she tells you the truth.”

“You think she will lie?”

“No, I don’t think she’ll lie, but I don’t think she’ll tell you the truth either.”

“Alright then, I’ll ask her. And by tomorrow after school, I’ll have your answer. If it’s right, then you shut up.”

“And if it’s wrong, you will have to admit that you don’t know her at all.”

“ _Only_ if it’s wrong.” Owen stuck out his hand to Francis. “We have a deal?”

With another smile, Francis took Owen’s hand and shook it.

“Deal.”

* * *

Somewhere along the walk home, Owen realized what he had gotten himself into, and was quite upset about it. He made a bet on his relationship to a guy he only knew about for three days. He couldn’t back out now, but there was no way he could win the bet without some kind of trouble. He couldn’t lose either, not to Francis. He contemplated this in his backyard, sitting against the fence. When his turmoil ebbed into frustration, his clawed into his hair and banged the back of his head into the fence.

“Why do I have to be so stupid!”

“What about you being stupid?”

Owen looked up and saw a pair of eyes looking back at him between eight fingers with pearl white nails.

“How did you get up there without your powers?”

“The same way you do: crates.”

“You must have a lot of crates then for you to get all the way up there.”

“Shut up, I’m not that short.”

Owen got up to get a better look at her.

“You’re parents aren’t home?”

“Nope, Mom’s at work and Dad’s helping Uncle Tucker moving into the house down the street. One of the very few occasions I am thankful to go to school or I would’ve been over there with him. You?”

“Nope, both at work. Won’t be home until six. Wanna come over?”

“Sure, hold on.”

Her eyes and her fingers disappeared. The fingers came back with a whole body swinging over the fence. Ophelia landed on her feet, but lost her balance and fell over.

“I miss flying.” She noted.

Owen knelt down and offered his hand.

“Hey, it’s better than my attempts at hopping the fence.”

Ophelia smiled and took his hand to help her up.

“Yeah, at least I didn’t land on you.”

“Although, I don’t think it would be as bad as me landing on you. I’d imagine it would be like having a pillow dropped on me.”

“I’m not that tiny.”

“Ever tried carrying yourself? Trust me, you are that tiny.”

“I’ll see for myself once I can duplicate again.”

Owen held her hand and led her into his house.

“You want anything? Mom just bought some cherries yesterday.”

Right when they got into the kitchen, Millie walked from the other side. She looked at Ophelia and then gave Owen an accusing pout.

“You’re not supposed to have friends over.” Said Millie, “I’m telling Mom!”

Owen had no fear. He walked to the fridge unfazed and opened the freezer door.

“You sure you want to do that, Millie?” he said in his “superior big brother” voice. “Tattletales don’t get ice cream.”

He pulled out a container of bubblegum ice cream, Millie’s favorite flavor. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the brightly colored container. He always wondered how her freckles always seem to dance on her nose when she sees something she likes.

“I won’t tell mom if you give me four scoops.”

“One scoop.”

“Five scoops.”

“One scoop.”

“Three scoops.”

“One scoop.”

“Two scoops.”

“One scoop, or no ice cream at all.”

She pouted again, this time in defeat.

“Okay,” she said begrudgingly, “but you gotta use the really big scoopy spoon.”

She held her hands apart to show how big the spoon was.

“Deal, but you have to eat it here. Mom will kill the both of us if you get bubblegum drips all over the carpet after she just cleaned it.”

Millie nodded and went over to the counter to receive her ice cream. Owen got a small bowl and the “really big scoopy spoon”. He turned on the faucet and set it to pour hot water. Without his notice, Ophelia appeared next to him leaning against the table.

“How did you manage to get Millie to listen to you like that?”

Owen felt the water was warm enough and put the spoon under the water. He shrugged.

“I never thought of it really. I guess it’s because I let her know I’m second in command to our parents and she has to listen to me when they’re not at home. That and ice cream helps. Actually, you can scratch the whole second in command thing, as long as you give them ice cream they’ll listen to you.”

Owen turned off the water. He opened the container and scooped out a large portion of ice cream. He put the ice cream into the bowl, which looked even larger in such a tiny bowl. With an equally tiny spoon, he gave the bowl to Millie.

“What do you say?” He asked Millie.

“Thank you” she said, though it was hard to make out as she had already started gobbling up the ice cream.

Owen caught Ophelia looking at him strangely.

“What?”

Ophelia looked as though she was snapped out of a trance and looked away embarrassed. He mused at how he only got to see her blush when she didn’t have her ghost powers to turn herself invisible. She looked kind of cute with her cheeks flushed.

“Oh, uh, nothing. It’s just fascinating how you are with your little sister. Sometimes I feel like I’m missing out being an only child.”

“I thought Dani was your adopted clone half-sister.”

“Yeah, but she never stayed longer than a month. She was more like a cousin than a sibling.”

“Well trust me, it’s not as glamorous as it looks. I get moments where I missed the seven years when Millie wasn’t born.”

Owen put the container of ice cream away and put the spoon in the sink.

“So, why are you an idiot?” Ophelia asked.

“Excuse me?”

“Before, you were saying something about you being an idiot. What was that about?”

Owen’s heart stopped for a moment. When he remembered how to breathe, he took one deep inhale.

“Phé, you trust me, right?”

There was something in Ophelia’s eyes that told him she was concerned.

“Of course I trust you.”

“Like you would tell me anything if I asked, right?”

Ophelia held her arm and looked down.

“….um…..yeah….I would….depends on what you ask.”

“Well, there’s something that’s been bothering me….I was kind of wondering about….it’s okay if you don’t answer, I just want to ask.”

“What are you asking?”

Owen was losing the words. This seemed a lot easier when he was talking to Francis.

“Well, you know how you said you don’t like looking at pictures of yourself when you were younger because of those scars being on you all the time? Well…I was just wondering…why I can’t see them now – unless you’re really hurt.”

Ophelia’s eyes went wide. He guessed she never expected anyone asking that question.

“It’s a long story, long and personal.”

Owen jumped like he did when Millie would start to cry and he didn’t know what to do.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. I’m fine with not knowing.”

“No, no, it’s okay. We’re dating now, we should be able to tell each other stuff.”

Ophelia found the nearest chair and took a seat.

“So, ever since I got the scars, there have always been doctors trying to find a cure. I have been in and out of hospitals so many times I’ve lost count. I’ve had so many tests done to me and tested so many things, but none of them could make the scars go away.”

Ophelia was chipping off her nail polish as she was talking. It was like she had completely forgotten Owen was there at all.

“Then there was this one guy who had a treatment. It couldn’t make the stuff in my blood go away, but it would help the external scarring and the pain that came with it.”

“Those scars hurt?”

Ophelia looked up at him startled. Apparently she did forget she was talking to another person.

“You know that pins and needles feeling you get when your leg falls asleep, and you don’t want to move it at all because it feels so bad? Well, it was like that but it felt like they were real pins and needles. All over. All the time.”

Owen tried to imagine that feeling. He could see how difficult it would have been for her to walk around like that, play games with other kids, to be held by her mother. They wouldn’t have been pleasant.

Ophelia continued.

“My parents were against the treatment, they though it was too extreme for an adult, let alone a twelve-year-old. In retrospect, I agree with them, but at the time I was too desperate to get rid of them to care. I did the procedure behind their backs. When they found out, they were absolutely livid. They wanted the doctor’s license for doing the procedure without their consent.  I think I made my record for longest punishment for that. But to this day, I don’t regret what I did. I don’t think there is a way to describe how it feels to be in that pain for so long for it to go away just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “Or to wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and not have your reflection remind you that something horrible happened to you and it will never go away. It’s just….nice.”

Owen mind was a blank. He had no idea how to respond to the story, he didn’t know how to feel about it. When he noticed that they were alone, with only a half empty bowl to show that another person was there, he asked another question.

“So, what was this miracle procedure that got you into so much trouble?”

Ophelia pulled up her sleeves to see the pale skin under the blue stripes.

“The doctor made this serum that reacted to my body’s healing factor. It caused it to generate new skin when a patch would be removed. In a sense, my skin is only two years old.”

Owen’s eyes were wide. He felt the color drain out of his face.

“You let yourself get skinned alive!”

Ophelia frowned. He couldn’t tell if he was angry or hurt or both.

“It’s not like it’s unheard of. People get skin graphs all the time.”

“But those are like tiny patches, not your _entire body_! Oh, and they’re usually not _twelve!_ ”

“If I had third degree burns, you wouldn’t be acting like this.”

“Burn victims didn’t have a choice, you did. You chose to do this because you thought you were too ugly to stand your own reflection.”

There was no doubt what she felt now: she was furious.

“I shouldn’t have trusted you. You don’t understand.”

“How can I understand, you had yourself _skinned alive_! - Wait, then how can I still see the scars when you get hurt?”

“I don’t know! Something about the blossoms being embedded in my tissues and severe injury causes them to show through. I don’t understand doctor stuff!”

“That’s….weird.”

Ophelia eyes shot such a glare of hatred for him he felt it burning a hole into his skull.

“Oh, how like I’m weird? Weird and evil and wrong? You think I’m a freak like the rest of them!”

“No, I just meant-“

“You were the last person I expected this from, you know that? Out of all the kids in school, I thought you were the most sympathetic. I guess I was wrong.”

She got up from her seat and left the kitchen. Owen ran after her.

“Phé, wait!”

He caught up to her and tried to catch her arm. She shrunk away and held up her hand.

“Don’t, just don’t. I can’t look at you right now.”

She walked out the door into his backyard and hopped the fence. Owen stood there in the hallway in a sort of shock.

What did he just do?

* * *

The next morning, it was as if Owen was on autopilot. He walked to school alone, didn’t talk to anyone when he got there, went straight to his locker to get his books and straight to his classroom when he got them. He would find a seat in an isolated desk in the back of the classroom, and spent the whole class taking notes and hoping that actually paying attention will make him forget what had happened yesterday. He was like this for every class, including gym, and sat alone during lunch. He did not lose track of the time. In fact, he watched the clock vigilantly, anticipating in dread his walk after school. With no delay, the last bell rang to set free the student body for the rest of the day. He did not wait for anyone and left Casper straight to Overlook Elementary.

“Hello again.”

Owen pushed the crosswalk button harder as he heard the other set of footsteps meet him at the end of the block. Francis leaned against the other side of the traffic pole and looked at Owen.

“You forgot to wait for me, buddy.”

“I didn’t forget,” Owen grumbled. He noticed that this was the first and only conversation he had with anyone today. “And don’t call me buddy.”

“I’m guessing this is the cold dismissal of a sore loser.”

“I didn’t lose the bet, Francis, she told me.”

Owen was in too sour a mood to enjoy the look of surprise on Francis’ face.

“She did? What did she tell you?”

“She skinned herself to look pretty.”

“I doubt she used those exact words, but that’s the gist of it.”

The crosswalk’s red hand turned into a white pedestrian. Owen walked across the street with Francis following not far behind.

“Look at that, she actually trusts you.” said Francis amusedly, “Little Miss Emotional Barricade actually let someone in.”

“I don’t think you can use trust in the present tense anymore when it comes to her and me.”

Francis stifled a chuckle.

“You didn’t take it well, did you?”

“How is _anyone_ supposed to take it well? She went through an invasive surgery all because she was ashamed of how she looked. I thought she was the kind of person who didn’t care about external appearances. I don’t even know who she is anymore.”

“The truth is ugly, my friend. I told you you didn’t know her as well as you thought you did.”

“No, I don’t….but that’s why she told me. She knew that she doesn’t let me in on her life, and she told me about the treatment as a way for us to get closer. And I threw it back at her. I broke her trust. She may never speak to me again, and all this over a stupid bet…I’m an idiot.”

“You were an idiot to date her in the first place, but now you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

Owen stopped in his tracks. He really is an idiot for not seeing this before.

“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?”

Francis stopped when he noticed that he was walking alone and turned back.

“Knew what, exactly?”

“You knew I would freak out when I heard the story and we would get into a fight.”

“Actually, I expected her to freak out when you asked her, but this is even better. Now you’re safe _and_ you know how horrible she is.”

“You’re trying to break us up?”

“For your safety. I wasn’t kidding when I told you she’s trouble. People get hurt because of her, people’s lives get ruined. Look, I think you’re a good kid; you’d probably make any girl happy. I don’t think you deserve to see what happens when you get too involved.”

Owen felt his hands clench into fists. He wanted to punch him out so bad, but he still had enough sense to know it was a bad idea to hit a police officer’s son in broad daylight.

“Seriously, _what_ is your _problem_! How can you hate someone so much that you have to drag down other people in your campaign to make her miserable?”

“Oh yeah, like she’s the innocent victim here.”

“Alright, what is this crime that provoked your wrath?”

That moment, he realized how close he was to Francis’ face. Being so close to him, he realized how much taller Francis was than him. He felt uncomfortable, but he refused to back down. Francis stared down at him unfazed, as if this was nothing more than the harmless lapdog who thinks he’s bigger than he really is. With his unfazed look and emotionless voice, he answered.

“She’s the reason why my parents are divorced.”

Out of sheer surprised of the statement, Owen backed down. He unclenched his fists, even though he was still pretty angry. Now he was surprised and angry.

“Huh?”

“You wanted to know why I hate her, there’s my reason. She split up my parents.”

“How?”

“How else does she cause problems? She draws attention to herself.”

Francis shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and kept walking. Owen had to run to catch up with him. Francis started his story once Owen was next to him and kept the pace.

“I can remember a time when we were friends, when we weren’t just pretending to keep our folks happy, though they’re not that strong of memories. I was like you, I thought innocent souls could do no wrong. I was pretty dumb back then, but then again I was four.” Francis pulled him back by the arm. Owen didn’t notice that they had reached another crosswalk. Francis held down the button and continued. “Those scars you see on her, she got them because she attracted something bad. She got them angry and they hurt her. Really hurt her. She was in a coma for three months, we thought she was never going to wake up. I remember overhearing the nurses saying they were better off pulling the plug, so she wouldn’t have to go through anymore pain.

“My parents would never stop fighting. They were worried that the thing that got her would go after me next. More and more fights came, and I could swear every one of them had her name dropped somewhere. The next thing I know, my Dad’s taking me to a new house in another state.

“But, it never stopped there, I would have forgiven her if it only stopped there. When she woke up, everyone wouldn’t stop fussing over her. If she tripped, they were there with a first aid kit, if she wasn’t in the room for more than a minute, they were already writing up the Amber Alert, if she couldn’t recognize her shadow, they were looking at new cities to move into. My parents were more worried about their precious little godchild more than their own son. And the worst part is that she didn’t even care. She was so preoccupied with herself to even notice that her actions were affecting other people.  She kept going around doing whatever she wanted, getting herself into more trouble and drawing more attention to herself. That might be the worst part of it all, not that she destroyed my parents marriage, or that she stole them from me, no, that she doesn’t even know _or care_ that she did it, and keeps on doing it. So yeah, excuse me if I don’t like her as much as you or your friends do.”

Within a twenty-four hour span, Owen had managed to be rendered speechless twice. Strange how the mundane human aspect of the Fentons’ family befuddled him more than the dangerous ghost fighting part.

“I’m sorry”

Francis looked at him like he had just called his mother an unpleasant name.

“I don’t need your pity.”

“I’m not giving you pity, I’m just saying sorry.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know, it just felt like the best thing to say in this scenario.”

“Well, it’s not.”

The crosswalk sign turned white. Francis bumped Owen’s shoulder as he passed him to cross the street. He didn’t even wait for Owen when he got to the other side, he just kept walking. Owen sighed.

“Wait up!” Owen shouted after him, “I can’t run that fast.”

Francis must have listen to him because he eventually caught up. Francis didn’t look at him. He seemed to be pretending to Owen didn’t exist, despite slowing down for him.

“I don’t need your pity, and I don’t need your apology. You have nothing to do with this.”

“I am now, you dragged me into this.”

“No, I didn’t. I’m trying to stop you from getting too involved with her.”

“And in the process, you stuck me right in the middle of your cold war against Phé. You think destroying her relationships to get back at her for ruining your parents’ is going to help you feel better.”

“It already has. Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but it does taste pretty sweet – Hey, revenge is ice cream!”

“And just like ice cream, revenge can only be enjoyed for a short time before it melts and then all you have is a big mess.”

Hey can tell Francis wasn’t listening to him. Why is it that when he actually has something worth hearing, nobody listens?

“What’s the point in these petty mind games when she doesn’t even know why you hate her?”

Francis stopped suddenly.

“That’s exactly the point: she doesn’t know. She doesn’t get that her actions have consequences on other people. She spends all this time griping about people hating her for what she is that she never stops to think that maybe it’s because of _who_ she is: a selfish, irresponsible, spoiled brat who never thinks about other people until it’s too late. I hope one day you will understand. But until then…try not to die.”

Francis walked off. This time Owen didn’t try to catch up with him. Francis stopped after a few paces and turned back to Owen.

“Or if you do die, don’t come back. Then you’ll never be rid of her.”

With that, Francis said nothing more. Owen didn’t move until he had turned around the corner and disappeared completely.

* * *

After Owen decided to go over to the Fenton’s house after he dropped Millie at home. He needed to apologize to Ophelia and clear this out. He was a little afraid of running into her parents, or that his parents will find out and he’ll be grounded for longer, but he could worry about that later. He had to talk to her now.

Not long after he and Millie got home, there was a knock at the door. After a long fight explaining to Millie that yes, they are not allowed to answer the door when Mom and Dad aren’t home, and yes, it could be a stranger, but he had to answer the door to see if it’s not a stranger and because he’s the closest to an adult so no more questions, he answered the door. He must be one of the few living teens to be stricken with fear at seeing Danny Phantom as his doorstep. Well, actually, at that moment, he was Mr. Fenton.

“Mr. Fenton?” he said, surprised to hear the fear in his voice. “What brings you here?”

Mr. Fenton glared at him. And he thought Ophelia’s burning stare of hatred from yesterday was bad, her father’s was kicking the potential ghost in him with ectoranium-toed boots.

“Care to explain why my daughter is sulking around the house and not talking to anyone?”

Owen swallowed air, hard.

“I-I don’t know what you mean by that, I haven’t seen her since we both got grounded…aside from school, I mean.”

“Save it, Dodgson, I know that you two have been seeing each other behind my back. Do you really think I’m too dumb to think you guys wouldn’t hop the fence when we’re gone?”

Owen shook his head fervently.

“No, no sir, not at all. I wasn’t thinking at all.” he meant to saying he wasn’t thinking _that_ at all, but he had a feeling they meant the same thing to Mr. Fenton. Mr. Fenton looked around the inside of Owen’s house and looked back at him.

“May I come in? I think you and I are due for a talk.”

He nodded. He uncomfortably felt beads of sweat drip down his forehead. He wiped it off the sleeve of his sweater as Mr. Fenton made his way into his living room. Millie was standing at the bottom step of the staircase, watching in shock as her big brother was letting someone in.

“Mom _said_ we’re not supposed to let people in when she’s not home!”

Owen was going to say something, but Mr. Fenton stopped him and knelt down to Millie. His expression was lighter and warmer, so much that you wouldn’t have guessed that he was planning on making Millie an only child.

“It’s alright, sweetie, you’re Mom said it was okay if I came over.”

Millie crossed her arms and pouted suspiciously. Another thing Owen marveled about his sister: she had a pout for just about every single emotion.

“How do I know you’re not just saying that?”

“Because one: I’m a friend of your parents, two: I live right next door, and three: if I really wanted to come into your house without permission, I would’ve just walked through the walls.”

Millie’s pout turned into an accepting smile.

“Okay. I have a doll that looks like you, you wanna see?”

Mr. Fenton laughed, like he heard an old joke that never stopped being funny.

“Maybe later.”

Millie gave a nod and scurried up the stairs. Mr. Fenton turned back to Owen, making him wish Millie would come back down with the warmth that had left Mr. Fenton’s expression.

“Sit” he told Owen. Owen did as he was told, nearly falling flat on the floor before noticing there wasn’t a chair behind him. He took a seat at the edge of the family sofa, opposite his father’s easy chair where Mr. Fenton now took his seat in.

“Now, explain: what did you say to my little girl.”

Owen fumbled with the words. When he couldn’t hear them, he realized that he needed to breathe for words to come out.

“I didn’t mean anything by it. I….asked her a question that was bothering me for a while. She gave me the answer….and I didn’t take it well. I was actually going to go over and apologize…using the front door, of course.”

Owen felt the dryness of his mouth. His sandpaper tongue scratched and fused to the roof of his mouth. Strange how his insides were dry while his clothes were soaked through in sweat. He could imagine how he looked to Mr. Fenton right now.

“I really am sorry for what I did. I overreacted and worst of all I broke her trust in me. She wanted me to be understanding of her problems and I threw it back at her face. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for what I did, and I don’t expect her to forgive me either, I only want her to know that I truly am sorry for what I’ve done.”

He didn’t know why he was covering for the Foley kid, it was all his fault anyway. Maybe because he knows it’s not going to make anything any easier if he opened the can of worms to their parents. Or maybe he actually did feel bad for Francis, just a little. Maybe he thought that getting Francis in trouble now is not going to help him get over his problems.

He looked down at the ground. For many emotional reasons, he couldn’t look at Mr. Fenton in the eye.

 “I’m ashamed of how I acted, even more for how I made her feel.”

It became really quiet, seriously, deadly quiet. He looked up at Mr. Fenton, who looked back at him with an unreadable expression. He could tell that he was still mad, of course, but he couldn’t tell if his words meant anything to him.

“You know I’ve heard this before? Ophelia’s last boyfriend said that he really cared about her, and promised never to hurt her in any way. And when he eventually did hurt her, he wouldn’t stop apologizing. It was like if he said it enough times to the both of us, it would make us think he meant it.”

“Speaking of that kid, what happened to Richard anyway? I hadn’t seen him since he tried to get back with Ophelia. It’s like he dropped off the face of the Earth.”

Mr. Fenton smiled, Owen didn’t like it.

“It does look like that, doesn’t it?”

Owen really didn’t like that.

He kept reminding himself to breathe. Taking deep, calming breaths, like they would be the last ones he’ll ever take. Mr. Fenton broke out into laughter.

“Relax kid, you act like I’m going to kill you.”

Owen raised an eyebrow.

“You’re not?”

Mr. Fenton went over and clapped his hand over Owen’s shoulder. Owen flinched involuntarily to the touch.

“Of course not…your sister can put me at the crime scene if I killed you _now_.”

Owen’s heart stopped. Mr. Fenton laughed again.

“I’m just kidding, lighten up.”

Owen laughed nervously, not knowing what else to do right now. He stopped immediately after Mr. Fenton stopped.

“But seriously though, I care very deeply for my daughter. I only want her to be safe, and for a long time I had to choose her safety over her happiness. But now, for once, she’s allowed to have both, and I want to ensure she has both. I just finished dealing with one messy relationship, I’d rather not deal with another. Look, you’re a good kid. I’m not big on my kid dating, but if I had the right to choose who she dates you’re probably the least horrible option in town.”

Owen wasn’t sure if that was a compliment but he thanked him anyway. Or at least tried to when Mr. Fenton cut him off.

“Just please, don’t prove me wrong. And don’t make her do anything she’s not ready for.”

When Owen got what that meant, he held up his hands and shook his head.   
  
“Oh no, none of that, Mr. Fenton, honest. We haven’t even kissed yet.”

Mr. Fenton didn’t seem to believe him. He looked at him straight in the eye like a jeweler inspecting a gem to make sure it wasn’t a piece of glass.

“No, you haven’t, good. Keep it that way.”

When Mr. Fenton gave him some space, Owen regained his breath.

“Just to make it clear, I don’t want you to try to be my friend. As long as you’re dating my daughter, it’s not going to happen. Listen to what I just told you and we’ll get along peacefully. If you don’t, if you hurt her or do something I don’t approve of…”

His eyes turned green.

“Then I’ll have to have the same talk I had with Waltz, and that one won’t have witnesses.”

Owen nodded his head in agreement. Mr. Fenton’s eyes turned blue again and he smiled.

“Nice speaking to you, Dodgson.” He said with a pat on the back that nearly knocked Owen off his seat. “I’ll go and talk to Phé for you, she’ll listen to me.”

Owen looked at him like he just grew a second head.

“Really, you’d do that for me?”

“Of course, I can see that you’re genuinely sorry. And whatever will get her out of her depression won’t hurt.”

“If it’s okay with you, Mr. Fenton, I’d like to apologize to her in person.”

“Gee, I would love that, but you two are still grounded and not allowed near each other until the grounding is over. I wouldn’t want to go against your parents wishes.”

Mr. Fenton patted him on the shoulder. He got up from the couch and headed towards the front door. He opened it and was halfway out when he turned back to Owen.

“Oh, and let your parents know that I’m having a new security system installed tomorrow. It’s nothing big, just putting up one of those shields that keep out ghosts _and_ humans. Thanks.”

He shut the door. Owen was rather happy with that conversation. He’s not dead, and Mr. Fenton was nice enough to talk to Ophelia for him. Then maybe he could talk to her tomorrow at school as well. Maybe even tell her about Francis. Perhaps if she knew why he hated her, she could work it out with him.

With that, he promptly fainted back into the sofa.


	21. Bedridden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophelia falls ill.

Ophelia pulled her coat tightly over herself as she felt another chill go down her spine. Ever since the evacuation, there have been more ghosts per capita than there ever had been in the entire history of Amity Park. Her ghost sense has been acting up so much to the increase that it eventually became one long chill. She was wearing enough layers to give her the appearance of having a healthy weight and still she couldn’t get warm. Her father was going through the same thing, and they would have to crank the heating system to expensively high levels so make sure his ice core didn’t cause him to freeze the entire house solid. Her poor mother had to roast at home so they won’t turn blue.

She bladed to school that morning, thinking of how much warmer her destination would be than this cold autumn air.  She stopped in her tracks when she sensed something familiar. She lifted her lucky goggles in hopes to get a better view of whatever she was feeling.

“Hello?” she called out. There was no answer.

“In all my life and beyond, I shall never see; an angel as virtuous and beautiful as thee.”

Ophelia followed the voice to a tree, where she saw nothing. In the back of her mind, she saw a figure there leaning against the tree, looking at her. Her eyes flashed when she recognized that voice and figure.

“Waltz”

“Ah, my angel remembers me.” Said that invisible voice.

“How could I forget,” Ophelia said flatly, “your presence makes me sick to my stomach in such a specific way.”

He laughed quietly to himself, like he heard an inside joke.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing, just the words you used.”

She finally felt some heat in her cheeks.

“So, what does Vlad want you to do this time? Bore me to sleep with your terrible verses?”

“I don’t work for him anymore. I’m a freelancer now.”

“I guess that makes sense, you get enough time to prey on innocent human girls without having to multitask.” She heard how loud she was and realized how strange she may look to someone passing by.

“Still sore, I see. If it makes you feel any better, you were probably the best girl I kissed….Then again, it’s been a while. My memory of your lips is quite hazy.”

“If you think I’m going to go anywhere near you, then you are crazier than your former boss.”

“Well, if you won’t give it willingly, then I guess I have no choice but to steal it from you.”

Something grabbed her by her scarf and pulled her behind the tree. She cursed her roller blades for making it so easy for him to drag her. Her head banged against the tree when she got thrown against it. Before she could cry out in protest, an invisible mouth covered hers.

Her insight picked up something from him as he kissed her. A girl lying at someone’s feet. By the flicker of a yellow light, she could see this girl was bleeding. There was a lot of blood. She wasn’t breathing.

The image stunned her for a second. The next moment, she became lightheaded. Was he trying to suffocate her? Is this what they meant by “Kiss of Death”? It wasn’t until her vision was starting to black out that he finally pulled away.

“Yep, you are the best girl I’ve ever kissed.”

Ophelia nearly fell to her knees as she gasped for air. Her eyes were green flames, despite her cold body. She swung a punch at him, which was no more useful than swinging at air. He laughed an arrogant laugh that only made her angrier.

 “You’re so lucky I’ve got this stupid cuff on, you jerk!”

He was still laughing as he flew away.

“Yeah, you better fly away, scumbag backstabber sad excuse of a man waste of ectoplasm!”

Ophelia spat the taste of Waltz out of her mouth and kept rolling. For the rest of the way, she forgot that she was cold.

* * *

The next morning, Ophelia felt terrible. Every muscle in her body ached and she felt like someone knocked her over the head with a crowbar. She was chilled to the bone, but she could feel that her flesh was unusually warm. She took a while to get out of bed, for a wave of nausea would knock her back down. She only took one step before she buckled under her jelly legs.

“Uhhhh, somebody kill me.” She whined, noticing how scratchy her voice sounded.

She coughed loudly and deeply, helping little to clear out her lungs. Not even a second after the first cough, her mother walked into her room.

“Sweetie, was that you coughing?” her mother asked.

Ophelia waved her off.

“No, no, no, no, I’m good, I’m absolutely peachy.” She said this while slowly sinking down into the ground.

“You don’t look peachy,” her mother accused, “in fact, you using the word ‘peachy’ is a pretty big sign you’re not.”

She walked over and helped her sit back into bed. Her put her hand over her forehead, Ophelia cringed at how cold her mother’s hand was compared to her forehead.

“Oh honey, you’re burning up!”

“Oh, that’s just the heater and ten blankets. I’m fine.”

Ophelia coughed again. Her Mom back away like she had just caught on fire with her sleeve over her mouth.

“Whoa, that is definitely not a ‘saliva down the wrong pipe’ cough. You’re sick, Ophelia.”

Ophelia groaned and fell back into the bed.

“Can we pleeease not do the doctor thing this time? It’s just the flu.”

“Sweetie, you know that nothing you get is ‘just the flu’. We have to call this in.”

“Uhhhhh, this suuuuuuuucks! I hate being sick!”

“Everyone hates being sick. But with a little luck, this will only last a couple of days.”

“It never does.”

* * *

Everyone on Willow Street woke up that morning to the sound of an ambulance truck. The curious few and the kids walking to school caught the truck parked in front of the Fenton house. Those curious few became curiouser when they noticed that the paramedics were wearing contamination suits.

When they came out, they were wheeling out the young Fenton kid on a gurney. She didn’t look like she was seriously injured, maybe a little under the weather. She was at least well enough to sit up on the bed, even to hold quite a good pout with her arms crossed over her chest. The kids who watched her getting loaded into the truck recognized that look as complete and utter humiliation. Some had enough pity not to record this moment on their phones to post on Facebook. Others didn’t.

* * *

“Did you see that ambulance truck parked outside the Fenton house?”

“Yeah, did you see who they were loading into it?”

“I hope she’s okay?”

Abi, Em, and Darcy were talking about the incident this morning as they walked to school together.

“What do you think happened to her?” Em asked.

“Maybe she just broke her leg or something.” Darcy said.

“And they decided to call in the Haz-Mat squad?” Abi turned down, “I guess your deduction skills aren’t in today, Detective Adler.”

Darcy shot daggers at Abi through her eyes. Em saw a fight developing and stepped  between them.

“Either way, she must not be feeling well. Maybe we should go to the hospital after school today to check in on her.”

“Check in on whom?”

They weren’t really startled at Trix’s sudden appearance beside Em. They have gotten used to her and ghosts in general to be unfazed by the unannounced entrances of the ethereal.

“There was an ambulance outside the Fentons’ house.” Darcy explained.

“Way to underscore it.” Said Abi, “The paramedics were in those big biohazard suits. It looked like that scene from E.T.”

Trix tilted her head to the side confused.

“What’s E.T.?”

“It’s an old movie.” Em filled in.

“Anyway, they were wheeling Ophelia out into the truck.”

“Oh goodness, I hope she’s okay.” Trix looked truly worried, in a way akin to a scene from an old 1920’s film.

“That’s what we were just talking about.” Said Darcy, “ We don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

“It must be something really horrible if they had to call in the ambulance.” Abi said, “Remember that time she broke her leg in gym and acted like she didn’t. Coach Baxter had to drag her to the nurses office when it started to turn black.”

When the girls got to the school, they spotted Francis on the wall along the top step. He tapped at his phone and then suddenly the P.A. system crackled to life. He put his phone to his mouth like a microphone and spoke.

“My fellow students,” He announced over the hacked P.A. system. People’s heads were turning in his direction. “If any of you are concerned over my god sister Ophelia Fenton, it is undeserved. She is not dying, she is not injured, there is no radioactive spill in the Fenton house, it’s just the flu. A common, everyday bug. They only take her to the hospital because of their paranoia over her freaky half-ghost biology. Now, everyone go on with your lives and stop worrying over the Fenton girl. That is all.”

With that, the P.A. system died again. The rest of the school buzzed with satisfaction of the new information. The girls, on the other hand, weren’t satisfied with just that and went to talk to him. He was leaning against the wall he just stood on when they caught up to him, looking through his phone at something they couldn’t see. Francis flicked their eyes to them, not moving any other part of his body.

“Can I help you, ladies?” he said with an almost bored tone.

“What do you mean, she only has the flu?” Darcy asked.

He gave them a polite smile.

“I already met you two,” he said, pointing to Em and Trix. Looking over to Abi and Darcy he said, “and I’m guessing you two are Necro’s friends as well.”

Darcy leaned over to Em. “Wow, you were right,” she whispered, “he _does_ call her that.”

“Yes, we are her friends,” Trix said in a polite yet stern way, “and we are worried about her. So please, tell us what’s going on.”

Francis rolled his eyes.

“Her freaky biology gives her this super immune system that helps her get over stuff crazy fast. When she gets sick, her body shows it like a common cold when it’s actually pneumonia.”

“Oh god!” cried Trix.

“Trust me, she only feels it like the common cold. Anyway, when she gets sick, her parents have to send her off to the hospital under quarantine. The doctors always freak out because of her possibly spreading a deadly disease without knowing it, the virus mutating in her body into something even worse, blah blah blah boring stuff. “ He said this while moving his hand in a circular motion often associated with boredom.

“You’re rather chill about all this.” Darcy said in a somewhat disgusted tone.

“I grew up with all this drama, and so has she. I’m actually doing her a favor, she hates her ailments made into a big scene as much as I do.”

“But still, you could at least act a little concerned.”

“Okay, how’s this?” He cleared his throat loudly. He then put his hands together and leaned them to the side of his face in a melodramatic manner. “Oh dear lord in heaven, my poor god sister has been cursed with the dreaded sniffles! However shall she survive the winter!”

“Wow, you just lost the Tony nomination.” Said Em.

“Yeah, the producer must have thought you were a really good kisser.” Abi added with a snort.

“Funny” said Francis. He went back to his phone as if they were invisible. “Unless you have something important to say, you can go ahead and get out of my airspace.”

The girls walked away indignant.

“Who does that guy think he is, anyway?” Darcy said.

“He thinks he’s the son and heir of a billion dollar software industry genius, oh wait, he is.” Said Abi.

“So is Marti, and she’s the sweetest thing.” Added Em, “She’s probably the only one of my sister’s play dates I don’t mind supervising. She even tops Millie…..Oh darn!”

“What?” asked Trix

“Owen”

“Oooohhh” Said Abi and Darcy in unison. Trix was confused.

“What about Owen?”

Darcy and Em were about to explain, but as usual Abi took the stage front and center.

“Owen’s a nice kid, the nicest kid you’ll ever know. But that’s kind of the problem: he’s too nice. When he hears someone’s in trouble, he will go out of his way to help them. When they get hurt, he freaks. If he hears what happens to Phé, he’s going to try to be at her bedside even if her has to go all Raiders of the Lost Ark to do it.”

Trix was going to ask what _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ was when Em cleared it for her.

Darcy went to Abi’s side with a smile.

“Which means Candy Striper here is going to have him buzzing around her ear all day.” She elbowed Abi’s arm as she said this. Abi’s eyes widened as if she had just now realized it.

“Aw, crud.”

* * *

“Please, Abi”

“No!”

“Please”

“No, Owen”

“Come on, Abi, Please!”

“No, Owen, I don’t even know if my Mom’s attending to her.”

“Aw, come on.”

Abi’s mother is a doctor at the main hospital in Amity Park, and her father is a paramedic. She volunteers after school as a candy striper at that very hospital, giving her the knowledge of what goes on and where under that roof. Because of this, her friends used her as an all access pass whenever someone they know gets checked in.

“Abi, please.”

“Owen, shut up and listen. Francis said that it’s nothing but the flu. She’s only in there as a safety precaution for everyone else. In fact, even if I knew where she was, you wouldn’t be allowed in because of the quarantine.”

“Well, I wouldn’t trust Francis’ word on it.” Owen grumbled. “Come on, Abi, she’s all alone in there. The only human contact she gets are the doctors poking and prodding her to make sure she’s not gonna die. I should be there to keep her company, let her know that the outside world hasn’t forgotten her.”

“Owen, I love you. You are like my other brother, but you are really acting over the top about this. It hasn’t even been a day, I doubt she’s going to go mad from a lack of human contact. This is not your baby sister in there, this is a girl who deflected a missile on her first day of school. She’ll be fine. “

Owen scowled. She could see the gears working in his head to think of some way to convince her to let him in. She kind of felt bad for the guy. When he gets like this, it made her think of a puppy whimpering at their owner to play with them.

A smirk appeared on his mouth.

“Do you remember that time back in eighth grade when we got set up as lab partners for the whole semester and you left me with all the work and in appreciation you said something. What was that, exactly?”

Abi groaned.

“’I owe you big time,’” she said defeatedly.

“That’s it, exactly. And I think now is a good time to cash in on that big time favor.”

Abi punched the memory of her lazy eighth grade self.

“Fine. Wait for me outside of the East Wing entrance, I’ll let you in and show you which room she’s in. And do not hold me responsible when you catch something or something catches you.”

Owen pounced a hug on her.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Alright, alright, save it for your girlfriend.” Abi said while she not so carefully pushed him off.

* * *

Ophelia flicked through the channels on the TV in her hospital room. Being in the middle of the day, and the hospital having a very modest cable package, there was nothing to watch. After about five laps of flicking through colors and sounds, she turned off the TV and tossed the remote to the empty cushioned chair across from her.

“I hate getting sick.” She said for about the hundredth time today.

She looked around at the room. She was left alone in here, though the room seemed capable of housing two patients. It was mostly empty, save for the medical equipment that was scattered around the room and the bits of furniture here and there that didn’t quite go with the all white walls and grey tiled floor and ceiling.

“I hate getting sick.” She said again.

Her parents were here earlier today. Her mother was cleared after being checked for any possible contamination from being around her daughter. Both she and her father had to those ridiculous contamination suits that made her feel like she was in Area 51. They wanted to stay longer, but the doctors shooed them away to take a few tests, as they always would. Now, they are allowing her to rest, leaving her a pitcher of juice that she already went through an hour ago.

“I hate getting sick.”

Worst of all, they didn’t even bother to tell her what she has yet and how long she’ll have to stay for. She guessed that it couldn’t by more than a week, for that typhoid fever she had when she was ten only lasted a week and then she was back home.

She laid back into bed, her aching head felt heavier than when she was healthy. She stared straight up at the ceiling, being too weak and two sore to do much else.

“I hate getting sick.”

The door opened. With all her strength, she pulled herself up to sit so she can see her visitor. She expected to see her parents again, but this time it was someone else she knew.

“Owen?” she said surprised.

“Hey Phé” he said with a timid wave. She immediately noticed that he wasn’t wearing a suit.

“What are you doing here? How did you get here? Why aren’t you wearing a contamination suit?”

“In order: I wanted to see you too see if you were okay. I cashed in on an old favor and had Abi sneak me in. She helped show me where your room was.”

“Aww, I don’t know whether I want to hug you or smack you. Are you out of your mind! I could be carrying tuberculosis for all I know, the nasty resistant kind too. You could drop dead any second just by standing in the same room as me-“ she was going to say more, but her yelling agitated her throat too much an sent her into an ugly coughing fit. Owen kept his distance and then took a seat beside her when she finished coughing.

“Say whatever you want, Phé, but I do not regret my decision at all.”

“You will when your skin falls off.” She thought she could say it without coughing, but it rattled out between the unpleasant hacks.

“I shouldn’t have to worry about that,” he teased, “I heard about this new serum that helps it to grow back on its own.”

She did not laugh, she was rather surprised that she wasn’t as upset as she knew she should be. She blamed her flu for making her too weak to feel emotions more potently and only told him “Not funny”

Owen smile went away, he shrunk back like he was afraid she would hit him.

“Sorry,” he said timidly.

She smiled at him. She was about it pat him on the shoulder before deciding it wouldn’t be a good idea to touch him while she was this sick. Yet, she still patted the air.

“It’s okay.” She told him.

Another chill came over her. She pulled the covers over herself, but it did little to warm her.  She ignored it, knowing that it will eventually pass and she’ll burn up again. Just like how her throat felt now.

“Since you’re here,” she said, noticing that she was starting to lose her voice. “could you do me a big favor and get me something to drink? My throat’s dryer than Death Valley.”

Owen was quiet for a moment, seeming to be in deep thought. Ophelia raised an eyebrow.

“You okay?”

Owen snapped out of his spell and looked at her.

“Oh, sorry, I was just calculating the risk factor of getting your drink. I’m learning that the simplest of things are anything but with you.”

Ophelia sheepishly shrunk into her covers.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, it’s actually kind of fun in a weird way.”

He leaned over to give her a kiss on the forehead, but she scooted away to let him know it was a bad idea. Owen was surprised for a moment, but then she saw that he got the picture. He walked over to the door and opened it. He gave her a wave that made her feel a little sad. She returned his wave by blowing him a kiss. He smiled and put a hand to his cheek. It made her laugh a bit. He closed the door behind him and she was alone again. She lied back down into her bed, pulling as much of the covers over her as she could. Her eyes fixed to the ceiling, she thought about how much she wanted him to kiss her, and how disappointed they both were that he couldn’t.

“I hate getting sick.”

* * *

Danny sat in the waiting room, pretending he could hear the mute television hanging from the other side. He had just convinced Sam to go home and let him stay here with their kid, which is by no means a small feat. She had a big case coming up soon and needed to put in as much time on it as she could if she wanted the conviction. He, on the other hand, had nothing to do at the moment. NASA didn’t need him up at the station for a while, and most of his patrols happened at night. So, as he agreed with Sam, he’ll stay at the hospital during the day to make sure everything is okay and she’ll come in for the night shift.

He only wished he had the foresight to bring an extra coat with him. The hospital was colder than it was outside. It reminded him of the Far Frozen and his icy friends there. He wondered where they were now. He knew better than think they would stay in the Ghost Zone with His Majesty taking over, not when it put the Infi-Map in danger. They must be somewhere cold, that was obvious. Danny went on to list the coldest places he knew on Earth. He stopped when he realized that the very thought of cold was making him see his breath. He then tried to think of hot things to warm him up.

Florida beaches, deserts, volcanoes, the sun…

In the middle of that thought, one of Ophelia’s doctors walked up to him. He got up from his seat to greet her.

“So, Mr. Fenton, we just finished with your daughter’s test results.”

“You don’t have to be so formal with me, Anna, we’re neighbors after all. Our daughters are friends.”

She looked at him the way Sam does when he said something silly.

“You know how this works, Mr. Fenton, across the street I’m Abigail’s mother, here in the hospital I’m Dr. Atkins.”

“I know, just saying.”

She gave him the look again before returning to her clipboard.

“According to the test results, she picked up a strain of the N1H1 virus. We’re already sending over her samples to your agency so they can make a vaccine in case her body mutates the virus and the school is already notified to keep on the look out of any signs of the flu. Most humans are fine after five days, but seeing your daughter’s medical history she could be out of here a lot earlier than that.”

“Anything you can give her to help it along?”

“Nothing that fluids and a good amount of bed rest wouldn’t do. Although…”

She looked at her clipboard with a puzzled expression, flipping papers back and forth. Danny took it as a bad sign.

“Although what?”

“The virus itself is quite odd. The last time this strain of the N1H1 virus was seen, it was known as the Spanish Influenza.”

Danny was confused.

“How on Earth did Ophelia contract a hundred-year-old disease? She’s supposed to be grounded.”

* * *

Owen returned from the cafeteria with a large bottle of Ophelia’s favorite fruit juice. He was lucky that he hadn’t run into anyone he knew yet, if Abi’s mom found him running around the halls he would surely be dead. And then there was Mr. Fenton. Abi told him that both Ophelia’s parents were here earlier and that Mr. Fenton was still here in the waiting room. The last thing he would want is for Mr. Fenton to catch him sneaking into his daughter’s room, not after that _very_ scary talk he gave him…

His train of thought came to a halt when he spotted Abi coming around the corner. She spotted him, and looked very annoyed in doing so.

“What are you doing?”

Owen looked down and the bottle of juice in his hand and he lifted it up for her to see.

“Ophelia got thirsty.”

“And that gave you an excuse to wander around the halls like you own the place? Do you know how much trouble I will get with my mom if she catches you?”

“Yes, because I’m in that much trouble already. In fact, I have a lot more to lose than you if Phé’s dad finds out I’m here.”

Abi covered her mouth and giggled.

“Oh yeah, right, I forgot about the Talk of Doom.”

“Glad you still find it funny, now if you excuse me-“

There was a sound of voices coming from the around the corner where Owen just came from. Abi’s eyes widened.

“Mom!”

Abi opened the door beside Owen and shoved him in.

“Hide in here!” she barked at him, as if he had a choice. Before Owen had a chance to protest, Abi slammed the door in front of him.

Owen looked around the room he was trapped in. It looked like she had just locked him in the hospital’s lab. He found it strangely quiet in here. He didn’t know how a lab should be like, but he never pictured it quiet. He walked around, making sure there was no one to see him before going into this turn or that. Labs are awfully quiet, he noted to himself, quiet and with not a lot of people.

He stopped and hid behind a shelf when he saw a human shape. He peered over to get a better look. Out of all the creatures he expected to find here, the last would be the strawberry blonde backstabber. He was dressed in doctor’s scrubs, with plain tennis shoes and a stethoscope hanging from his neck. Somehow, he looked a lot older, like he was actual hospital staff and not a kid playing dress up. He appeared to be looking for something, going through a shelf of samples. Owen noticed that he was wearing what looked like latex gloves, but they seemed a lot thicker.

“Ha! There she is.”

He pulled a small set of vials from the self. He held up one of the vials, which was filled with a dark red liquid.

“The new Plague, packed up in a tiny little bottle.”

He put the vial back in its holder and took the whole thing Owen stepped out from the shelf.

“Hey!”

His shout startled Richard causing him to drop the vials. There was a little popping sound when the vials broke on the ground. Richard looked down at it with more anger than Owen had ever seen him express.

“You idiot! Look what you made me do!”

“Who knew a ghost could be spooked by a human.”

Richard looked up at him. There was a look of surprise and recognition somewhere in all that anger.

“You! You’re that pansy artist boy that was pining over Ophelia.”

“I’m better known as that pansy artist boy who’s _dating_ Ophelia.”

Richard’s hands glowed bright with ghost energy. Owen instinctively backed away.

“Congratulations, you’ll be the first boy I’ve killed in a century.”

Richard stepped towards him. Out of nowhere, Richard screamed out in pain. Red sparks were coming off of him. Richard hopped away on one foot like he stepped on a big nail. When the sparks disappeared, Richard calmed down. The ghost energy in his hands had long disappeared. He glared at Owen in a way that made the boy feel like someone was stepping over his grave.

“You got lucky this time, boy. Get in my way again and you won’t be so lucky.”

With that, Richard phased through the floor. Owen was confused at what he had just seen. He looked down at the broken vials and saw a red foot print. He knelt down and picked up the holder for the vials, careful not to cut himself on the broken glass. The holder had a label along the side.  _Manson-Fenton, Ophelia L._

“Looks like Phé saves the day again,” Owen mused to himself.

He heard the door open behind him and he jumped. Fortunately for him, it was only Abi.

“I heard a scream, did you break something?” Abi said in a panicky voice. She looked down at where Owen was and groaned.

“Seriously? You’ve got to be kidding me. Now I have to clean up this mess and hope no one will notice that a sample is missing.”

“Abi, it wasn’t me. It was that Waltz kid. He was trying to steal Ophelia’s medical samples.”

The moment he said “Ophelia’s medical samples” Abi jumped back like it was a spider.

“What the heck are you doing touching that stuff! Put it down!”

Owen dropped the holder and got up. Abi held up her hands to let Owen know not to go anywhere near her.

“My Mom told me she’s got the Spanish flu. It’s a lot worse for adults but that doesn’t mean we should take any risk. You need to wash your hands in scalding hot water and I’m going to give you a whole bunch of hand sanitizer.”

“Spanish flu? Isn’t that like a hundred years old?”

“Somehow she caught it. Now come on, I need to get you sanitized.”

Abi had put on gloves while she was talking and grabbed Owen by the wrist to lead him out. Owen stopped after a few steps.

“Waltz, Phé told me he kissed her yesterday just before she got sick. What if he infected her somehow?”

“Well, ghosts don’t get sick, so I guess they would make great carriers. My mom read this study once theorizing that the Black Plague was so devastating because ghosts would carry the disease without feeling it and give it to people who they believed wronged them in their life.”

“What if he did that to Phé?”

“That’s ridiculous, why would he want to get her sick?”

“I don’t know, but we have to tell her. He didn’t look happy when the samples were ruined.”

* * *

Ophelia was very lucky that Owen didn’t come before her father and Dr. Atkins did. She was even luckier that he didn’t get to her room while they were still there. She managed to worry about this while feeling the relief of her illness not needing contamination suits. So she may not be here for too long, that’s great. But where and how could she have gotten the Spanish flu? She thought about that before she drifted into a much needed nap.

 She was shaken awake, which felt a lot worse than she knew it should have. She groaned and her eyes slowly opened to meet a pair of hazel and blue ones. Both of them were wearing medical masks.

“I was sleeping.” She drawled out.

“Ophelia, listen, Waltz is in the hospital. I saw him in the lab stealing your test samples.”

“What? Why?”

“We don’t know yet,” said Abi, “Owen thinks he was the one who infected you in the first place.”

Ophelia gave a laugh.

“Of course, who better to give me swine flu than a pig?” She lifted herself up by her arms, or at least tried to before her arms gave out. Abi went to her side to help her up.

“This is serious.” Owen said, “I startled him and he broke the samples. Whatever he needed them for, he’ll probably go after you again to get it”

“Jeez Owen, you have to make everything so melodramatic.” Abi said, “’whatever he needed them for, he’ll go after you to get it’, you sound like a soap opera.”

“That’s not the point. The point is that the guy almost killed me and Phé’s in danger.”

Ophelia giggled.

“Looks like you were right Owen, nothing is ever simple with me. You went out to get me some juice, and run into some diabolical plot conspired by my ex-boyfriend.”

“And nearly get killed by him, don’t forget that.” Owen added. “So what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m going to try to get in as much rest as I can. I can’t even get myself to sit up, let alone get up and fight. You guys will have to tell my Dad so he can keep an eye out for the creep. In fact, if Waltz knew my Dad was here, he wouldn’t be anywhere near this place.”

“Well, good luck telling him, Abi.” Owen said to her.

“Me?”

“Well, yeah, I not even supposed to be here, remember?”

Abi pouted.

“I swear, by the end of today, you’re going to be owing _me_ a big time favor.”

“Put me on the tab too, Abs.” Said Ophelia. She tried to lift her arm to add a gesture, but it dropped back over her stomach.

“Darn right, you are.” Abi said. She left the room and closed the door behind her. Owen turned to her. She could tell by his eyes he was smiling at her. He held her hand, which, like her mother’s this morning, felt like ice. He brushed the bangs from her forehead, the coldness from that hand felt nice against her skin.

“It’s okay,” he comforted, “you’ll be just fine.”

She smiled back. She would’ve said something back to him, but her eyelids had gotten too heavy. She drifted back to sleep with the feeling of Owen’s cold hand in hers.

* * *

Danny was in the cafeteria, enjoying the warmth of a disgusting cup of coffee. He called Sam to let her know about the diagnosis. He promised to let her know if anything else comes up, like how Ophelia managed to get the Spanish Influenza in the first place.

“Mr. Fenton! Mr. Fenton!”

Abigail de Fleur, Dr. Atkins daughter and Ophelia’s friend, was weaving through the tables at an extraordinary pace.

“Oh, hey there Abigail, how have you been?” Danny politely greeted.

“So much better than I am now,” she said while catching her breath. “You know Ophelia’s ex-boyfriend?”

“Waltz?” he said annoyed. His fingers clawed around the Styrofoam cup, threatening to break it.

“Yeah, well he’s here. I just saw him in the lab trying to steal Ophelia’s test samples. He nearly killed me when I cause him to break them. I think he might go after Phé for new samples.”

Danny’s eyes flashed green. He knew he should’ve dealt with him when he had the chance. He got up from his seat and transformed himself into Phantom.

“It’s a good thing you told me. Ophelia won’t be able to defend herself in her condition. Go let your mother know what’s going on and have her notify security that there’s a ghostly intruder on the premises. This building got a ghost shield?” Abigail nodded to confirm, “Good, have them switch it on as soon as possible, I am not having that kid leave the premises unless it’s in handcuffs.”

Abigail gave him a nod and ran off. Danny flew across the cafeteria and through the many rooms and hallways on the way to his daughter’s room.

To his shock, his daughter wasn’t anywhere in the room. Instead, the Dodgson boy was lying unconscious on the floor beside the bed. Of course he’s here, Danny thought.

Danny knelt down beside Owen and shook him awake.

“Dodgson? Wake up, Owen!”

Owen let out a moan as he slowly regained consciousness. Danny shook him harder.

“Where’s my daughter? What happened?”

“…Richard….bird faced man….gas…”

“Spit it out, kid!” Danny had no time for this.

Whatever knocked out the poor kid must have been strong. Danny could tell that it was still in effect, making Dodgson groggy and slur his words.

“… Richard…they took Phé…used some sort of gas to knock us out.”

“How long have they been gone?”

“I don’t know.”

Abigail arrived shortly, along with Dr. Atkins. Abigail was shocked at the scene, her mother looked surprise as well.

“Oh my gosh!” Abigail shrieked, “What happened?”

“What happened is that I got here too late.” Danny said, getting up from the floor. “Richard took Ophelia. How long has it been since you left this room?”

It took Abigail a moment to process his words.

“Um, I don’t know. Like, maybe five minutes?”

Danny turned to Dr. Atkins.

“Are the shields up?”

“Yes, I had security confirm it before we got here.”

“That means they must still be inside here somewhere. Have security check every room.”

“But what am I having them look for? I’ve don’t even know who we’re talking about.”

“It’s a ghost, goes by the name Richard Waltz. He looks like he’s about fourteen or fifteen years old, average height and build for an adolescent, he’s got reddish-blonde hair, red eyes that turn brown when he poses as a human, and blue-white skin that he changes to look Caucasian pink when he poses as a human.”

As quickly as he said it, Dr. Akins scribbled Waltz’s description down somewhere on her clipboard. Abigail was helping Owen to sit in the chair by were he was lying. He groaned.

“…there was someone else…”

“Who?”

“The bird-faced man…”

* * *

Ophelia woke up to darkness. She couldn’t tell if her eyes were open. Everything was cold, helping her fever. The surface beneath her felt like icy metal. She tried to sit up, but found she barely had any room to move her arms. With the little space she had, she felt the dimensions of the space around her. There was a metal ceiling above her, only inches away from her nose. Another wall a little under a foot away from the top of her head, and wherever the other wall was it was out of reach of her toes.

How did she get here? Where was ‘here’? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in her hospital room with Owen holding her hand….What happened to Owen?

She banged against the metal ceiling as hard as she could, which in her state didn’t make it as loud as she would want it.

“Hello?” She shouted in her crackled, hoarse voice, “Can anyone hear me?”

She thought she heard voices, but they were so low she couldn’t tell whether or not they were coming out of her own head.

“Hello!” She shouted, banging harder against the ceiling. “Let me out of here!”

She felt a strange pressure, like someone was on top of her. Something held her hands together by the wrists. Her screams were muffled; it felt like a hand was over her mouth.

“Shut up!” a harsh voice whispered way too close to her ear.

When she recognized Richard’s voice, she screamed louder and struggled against him. Richard held her down with a stronger grip. She felt fingernails digging into her cheek.

“Shut up or I swear I’ll end you here and now! Or would you rather I waste your little boyfriend instead?”

Something told her that he was being very serious. She stopped screaming and lied flat down.

“That’s my good little angel.“

It was quiet. She could hear voices outside. They were even fainter than before, meaning they were either quieter or further away. They got closer, or louder. She heard clicks vibrate within the walls.

“Stay quiet and don’t move,” he ordered, “Or somebody’s going to be in a great deal of pain.”

There was a loud click coming from the wall over her head. A sensation came over her that she was very familiar with, the one that came when she turned invisible. The wall over her head opened, becoming a door. The floor beneath pulled her out into the light. Her eyes squinted to the painful and abrupt transition from darkness to light. She blinked a few times to adjust.

At her side were men dressed in security guard uniforms. They looked down but not at her, only the table beneath her. Over her head was a man dressed in doctor scrubs and a lab coat. She couldn’t make out all of his features from where she was, but she did see he had plain brown hair that seemed to be styled after a 1950’s sitcom. What little of her insight that wasn’t dulled by her flu told her he was a ghost.

“See,” said the ghost in the lab coat, “This drawer is empty, there’s no one here. Well, no one living, that is.”

The security guards looked at the table suspiciously. One of them reached his hand through Richard and Ophelia and touched the metal surface.

“It feels a little warm for a place to keep a dead body.” said the guard,

“What?” said the ghost in a surprised tone that didn’t convince Ophelia at all. He put his hand through her head to feel the table. “You’re right. It must be that intern from earlier today, I once caught him trying to use this cabinet as a refrigerator for his lunch. The kid has no respect for the dead.”

Much to Ophelia’s shock, the guards appeared to be buying the story.

“Keep on the look out for anything suspicious. We’re keeping the whole building under lockdown, no one alive or dead is leaving here until we find the Fenton kid.”

“I understand completely, gentlemen. Now, if you excuse me, I have a few autopsies to perform. Unless you want to see the inside of a week old drowning victim.”

He needed to say nothing further. The guards left the morgue with a few mumbled apologies for wasting the doctor’s time. As soon as the door closed, Richard made them both visible. He let go of her wrist and took his hand from his mouth, but his face lingered a few inches from hers.

“Now that wasn’t hard, was it darling?” he said sweetly as her touched her cheek. She pushed him off of her and he tumbled to the ground. She sat up and smiled at the sight of him sprawled out on the floor.

“Aww, that looked like it hurt.” She said.

She turned over to the ghost in the lab coat.

“Who the heck are you?”

The ghost gave a polite bow and offered her hand to shake.

“I’m known as the Plague Doctor, both by name and profession. I’m quite sorry about this, but I needed to retrieve a new sample after my assistant broke the first one.”

“Hey, I shouldn’t take full blame. The pansy boy startled me.”

“You the ghost, you the killer, you the saboteur and thief extraordinaire? I thought when I hired you I would get efficiency, not sloppiness.”

“I think I did a better job than you asked for. Why get one small sample when you’ve got the self-replenishing source right here at your disposal.”

“I demand an explanation for my captivity!” Ophelia tried to make it sound intimidating, but instead she got the squeaks of a pubescent frog.

“Yes, sorry, pardon me.” Said the Plague Doctor. “You see, I am a collector and experimenter of all the great diseases of history. Wherever there is an epidemic, I have either caused it or collected a sample. I usually work within the Ghost Zone and sent agents to retrieve the data I need, but what with the Ghost King taking his throne, I had to set up shop on the field.”

“Not getting what this has to do with me.”

He held her head in that annoying, patronizing way her grandmother did when she said something “quaint”.

“You, my dear, are my latest project. I read your case and saw what a beautiful immune system you have. It can mutate a serious ailment and make it even more deadly. My hypothesis is that if your body can do that, it can do the impossible.”

“And that would be?”

“Why, make a ghost sick, of course – come here, sit on this table.” He patted the autopsy table. She looked at it and back at him. She wasn’t moving.

“Oh, silly me, you must be too weak to stand up on your own. Richard, be a dear and help her to the table.”

He didn’t bother getting her on her feet. Richard scooped her up bridal style and carried her there, though not without a fight on her part. He dumped her onto the table, which hurt. The pain went up her body like a tuning fork.

“Aww, that looked like it hurt.” He whispered to her mockingly.

The Plague Doctor wheeled in a tray of utensils.

“Ghosts can’t be affected by a disease, only carry it. I sometimes send out a few agents to spread a disease when I think an epidemic is too small, and in fact use them to send out some from my own collection, as you have experienced with Waltz here.”

“My favorite part of the job so far.” Richard chimed in.

“But you, a half ghost, you can be affected by ailments and mutate them. So then, you may be able to mutate a disease that reacts to ectoplasm the same way it reacts to the human body. Imagine that: a plague that affects both the living and the dead. Why, it would bring the bubonic to shame.”

Ophelia blinked in disbelief.

“So, you used my ex-boyfriend to infect me so you can use me as a living Petri dish to create the most devastating disease known to man and ghost?” She coughed, “You are out of your mind, and I am out of here.”

She tried to hop off the table, but Richard pushed her back down. The Plague Doctor shook his head.

“Oh dear, nobody seems to share my vision. How disappointing. Oh well, if the patient won’t comply to the treatment, then I shall need to use a little force. Waltz.”

Richard smiled at her in a way she did not like at all. He pushed her and pinned her arms down to the table. She struggled against him. The Plague Doctor was filling a syringe with a greenish liquid from a small bottle.

“I hate to sedate my patients, it seems invasive to go through these procedures while they’re unconscious. In here, it’ll feel like I should be performing an autopsy. But then again, I can’t have you fighting me the whole way through. Tense muscles make the needles stick.”

He tapped the needle and see if the liquid was coming out right. As he did so, his form seemed to shimmer. His lab coat turned into a long white robe. The blue latex gloves on his hands turned black and leathery. A wide brimmed hat appeared on his head, covering his 50’s sitcom haircut. The strangest of all was the mask that grew on his face. At fist, it looked like a gas mask, but then the mouth then stretched out into a beak.

“Do not worry, this won’t hurt a bit.”

He took her arm, and she tried to pull it away. There was the familiar prick of the needle, right in the most tender spot on her arm. She kept fighting when he took the needle away, but it got harder and harder to move. Her vision was blurring as she tried to stay awake. The last thing she saw was the bird-face mask tilt to the side curiously.

“Good night, Briar Rose.”

Then it all went black.

* * *

Danny stood by the main entrance of the hospital waiting impatiently for GHCU. Security had searched every corner of the hospital and found no sign of that Waltz kid, or more importantly any sign of Ophelia, or oddly of Owen’s Bird-faced Man. He knew they wouldn’t, these guards only know how to search for people, not ghosts. The fact that the two could turn invisible would’ve been an afterthought to them, and the standard ghost trackers required for general security were made as useless as his ghost sense by the overflow of ghosts in town, and the handful now trapped in the hospital.

He blamed himself, he shouldn’t have left her alone. If that Dodgson kid was able to get past him, then of course Waltz would. He was at least comforted that they had to be somewhere in the building, but it frustrated him as well. Where could they be?

His internal guilt trip was brought to a halt when the doors opened. Valarie came in with a few other officers from her unit. He smiled and gave her a friendly wave, but she didn’t reciprocate. Instead, she gave him a formal handshake. Of course, he forgot, this was the cold but firm Captain Gray on duty, not his friend Valarie.

“We came in as soon as we got the call,” said Valarie, “anything happen yet?”

“No, security checked all around the building and couldn’t find anything.”

“Which isn’t saying much. Not to worry, the professionals are here.”

“Goodie” he said sarcastically, “Have you got the tracer?”

“Yes, got it right here.” She slung off the backpack she kept over one shoulder and unzipped it. She took out a handheld device that looked like a thermal imager camera.

“Where’s the crime scene?”

“Right this way.”

Danny led her and the other officers to Ophelia’s room on the third floor. To his chagrin, the Dodgson kid was still there with Abigail and Dr. Atkins.

“What are you still doing here?” Danny told him.

“It’s not like I can go home, can I? And besides, don’t the police need to hear my testimony?”

Valarie looked at Owen amusedly and nudged her elbow at Danny’s arm.

“I’m guessing this it the boyfriend you told me about?”  She asked in a hushed tone.

“Yep, that’s him.”

“What’s that thing?” Owen asked, pointing to the device in Valarie’s hand. Captain Gray held it up to so Owen could see it better.

“This is an ecto-tracer,” she told him, “We in GHCU use it to identify and track a ghost using their unique ectoplasmic signature. Watch.”

She pointed the tracer at Danny, a light came on similar to a camera’s recording light. An image came on the screen of the tracer. Everything was either black or near black shades of colors, with outlines drawing out the room and the people in it. Danny appeared as a large mass of bright green with barely visible white lines giving the shape of his body. The green radiated from him and a slightly fainter trace of it led to the door he entered in. The camera beeped and a tab appeared below the image. It had two pictures of Danny, one as Fenton and one as Phantom. Next to it was his basic information and on the end of the tab had a palette with Danny’s shade of green on it.

“See, wherever Mr. Phantom goes, he leaves a trail of his ghost energy behind him. And, depending on how long it’s been and the concentration of ectoplasm, we’ll be able to tell where he’s been.

Owen looked at it over Captain Gray’s shoulder. Abigail peeked at it from a less obtrusive distance.

“Cool” Owen said.

Danny frowned. He was not in the mood to be used as a demonstration.

“Yeah, yeah, cool, can we get back to finding Ophelia?” he said impatiently.

“Alright, alright, “ said Valarie, “Don’t get your tights in a bunch.”

“It’s a jumpsuit.” Danny protested. He was starting to like the serious Captain Gray better.

She went to the empty bed and aimed the tracer at it. The light blinked again and the screen showed a slightly faint green and fainter purple splotch on the bed. The camera beeped and Ophelia’s tab appeared underneath the image. Like Danny, the tab showed two pictures of her, one as she appears on the Human Plane and one of what she transforms into when she enters the Ghost Zone. It had her basic information and the palette hade a brighter shade of the two colors that appeared on the bed.

“She’s definitely been here,” said Captain Gray, “And according to this she couldn’t have been gone for more than an hour.”

She turned to Owen.

“You said that there were two ghosts that took her?” she asked him.

“Um, yeah, Richard Waltz and this guy in a weird bird mask.”

She pointed the tracer to the space between the bed and the door. It picked up two signatures, one blue-white and charcoal grey. The tab with the blue-white square had a picture of Waltz and his basic information. The grey tab had a blank space where the picture would be and the words ‘unknown’.

“Whoever your Bird-faced Man is, he’s not on our records. But Waltz has definitely been here.”

“I knew it was a good idea to take his signature when they were still dating.” Danny said, marveling at his past brilliance.

“Yes, yes, aren’t you clever.” Said Captain Gray. Danny could tell she was stopping herself from rolling her eyes at him.

“Now give me that so I can track down the punk myself.” Danny reached over the grab the tracer from Gray’s hand, but she was too fast for him and pulled it out of his way. He lost his balance and fell over. He floated to keep himself from hitting the ground.

“No way, Phantom, I’m not letting you search on your own. You have a history with the perp, a bias, anything you do to him when you find him will be used against you in court.”

“Who cares about the courts, he may have already killed Ophelia for all we know.”

“That’s the exact attitude you can’t have at this moment. I either go with you or you stay here and I go on my own.”

Danny balled his fists. He didn’t need a babysitter to follow him around, he needed to find his kid. He should’ve known this would have happened, if he didn’t need the tracer he wouldn’t have called her in at all. While they were wasting their time going by the book, Ophelia was somewhere in the hospital. Too weak to fight for herself, in great danger, carrying a disease that could potentially wipe out the whole building if not the whole city...

Defeated, he crossed his arms and gave a loud sigh.

“Fine, just don’t slow me down.”

Captain Gray smiled victoriously.

“What makes you think you won’t slow me down?”

* * *

 

Ophelia woke up slowly. She felt more or less the same as before: she was aching to the bone, her flesh felt warm while she was freezing, and her throat was still sore and she needed to cough. Now on top of that her body felt like pure lead and the room wouldn’t stop moving.

Something glinted above her in the light. She could barely make it out, but she soon identified them as two bags with tubes coming from the bottom of each one. One bag was filled with a clear liquid, which she assumed was an IV drip. The other was filled with a slimy green substance that had a faint glow to it. She knew that was raw ectoplasm. They must have another drip to keep her sedated, but she couldn’t see it within her line of vision.

She turned her head. The Plague Doctor, still dressed in the odd outfit she had last seen him in, was at a table a little ways away from her. He was holding a clear slide up to the light, his other hand holding the side of an eye of his mask like he was adjusting the focus of a camera’s lens.

“Amazing, truly amazing,” he said. She wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or not. “Your lymph and blood samples both show the presence of plant cells in your system. No doubt they are of the blood blossom species.” He put down the slide and picked up a new one with a spot of red in the middle. He adjusted the lens again, it was shrinking and growing like a camera’s zoom. Ophelia guessed they must act as a kind of portable microscope.

 “And you seem to be fighting the influenza at much faster rate than I had expected. You should’ve had a cytokine storm by now with this strong an immune system. Your ghost half must be helping your immune system regulate itself, or perhaps it’s the blossoms. Ha! So many theories!”

He put the slide down. He slid a Petri dish in front of him and reached for two bottles. Both of them had a greenish tint and glowing.

“The virus seems to be progressing at a fast rate as well. I could hardly recognize it in the slides. I gave it a little something to help it move in the right direction.”

He filled an eyedropper with the substance in one bottle. He emptied the eyedropper into the Petri dish and then used a swab to evenly distribute it across the surface. He got a new eyedropper and filled it with the substance of the other bottle.

“Now to introduce it to ectoplasm from a ghostly body to see if it works.”

He squeezed out a single drop onto the Petri dish and then put the eyedropper back into the bottle. He watched it for a moment, silently, adjusting the lenses of his mask to get a good view. Without warning, he banged his fist against the table.

“Ha ha! Success! Waltz, my boy, come look at this!”

Richard came from behind her and looked over the Plague Doctor’s shoulder. He was wearing a medical mask and most of his hair was covered. He looked like he was about to perform surgery.

“Should I be able to see something from here?”

“Oh, where is my head? Here,” He took a swab from the dish and smeared it into a slide. He then carefully placed it into the microscope on the other side of the table.

“Now come look.”

Richard looked into the eyepiece of the microscope while adjusting the focus.

“See how the ectoplasm is reacting to the virus?” and the Plague Doctor.

“Oh yeah, I see.” Richard said, impressed.

“We have just made history, my friend. This is the day the first ecto-virus was created.”

Richard lifted his head from the microscope and looked over to Ophelia.

“What are we going to do with her?” he asked, thrusting his thumb in her direction.

The Plague Doctor’s long-beaked head turned to her. Neither seemed to notice, or at least not acknowledging, that she was now awake.

“I was thinking of returning her once the experiment was complete, but I can’t help but think of the possibilities of this process on the rest of my collection. I’ve been saving my Black Death for an occasion like her.”

“Well, we can’t leave here with the ghost shields up, and I would rather be swallowed by Tartarus than go through the Ghost Zone, not with Pariah Dark there.”

“I wouldn’t dare go near the Ghost Zone, either. Hmm,” the Plague Doctor leaned his head against his hand.

“The regulations for any medical institution is that they can hold a building under lockdown for no more than twenty-four hours. I believe if we can hide her until then, we can smuggle her out without any issue. And while we’re here, I can test my new virus on some of the patients here to see its full effect.”

“Oh, great. You get to play with your new toy while I have to hide the whelp from her father. I want a raise when this is over.”

“Not to worry, gentle lad, you shall get everything you’ve earned under my employment.”

“That’s what my last boss said before Phantom threw him in jail.”

“Somebody called my name?”

Richard turned paler than his ghostly pallor.

“Uh oh”

Both Richard and the Plague Doctor turned to the door. Ophelia tried to get put and see, but she couldn’t even lift up her head. Her insight was shot so she could only assume that her father was alone at the door.

“Ghosts at a morgue. This should have been the first place I looked.”

“So you’re the famous Danny Phantom,” said the Plague Doctor, “Can I just say how honored I am to finally meet you.”

“You two are both under arrest for kidnapping.” That was Auntie Val’s voice. Looks like her Dad didn’t come alone after all.

“Yes, I am quite sorry to be guilty of those charges. Richard, take care of them, will you?”

Waltz did not hesitate to shoot a ghost ray straight at Valarie. She ducked and shot a ray from her gun. Richard phased through the floor just in time to miss the blast. He reappeared behind Valarie and Danny and shot them both in the back.

“You take your daughter to work too much, Phantom.” Richard said, “I know enough through her to get quite a good advantage in combat.”

Danny flashed his eyes at him. Richard turned around and shot the air. The air gave a shout and another Danny appeared with a smoking chest.

“Like for example, there’s a certain look you get when you’re concentrating on being in more than one place at once.”

He phased through the floor a split second before Valarie’s gunshot could hit him. He stuck his head out through the floor next to her.

“And there’s that sound your gun makes when it’s about to fire. I’ll take that.” He snatched the gun out of her hand before she could react and pulled himself out of the floor. He aimed the gun at her, showing her the sound he was talking about.

“Nothing personal, inspector,” he said, “I just don’t like prison.”

Before he pulled the trigger, Danny fired a ghost ray that hit him square in the chest. The gun fell out of his hands and he stumbled backwards. Valarie pulled a thermos from her belt and sucked him in.

“Nothing personal, kid,” Valarie said, “I just don’t like people pointing my own gun at me.”

When the fight was over, they noticed that the other ghost had disappeared. There on the table was a Petri dish and a note. Danny picked up the note.

 

_Dear Mr. Phantom and officer,_

_I am frightfully sorry to leave you unannounced, but I do not wish to be arrested at this time. I did not wish any more harm than necessary, and I certainly did not wish to abduct your precious child. I only did what was needed to complete my experiment. Although I had wished to try other viruses on your child’s immune system, I understand that I have overstepped my boundaries in my ambition and scientific curiosity. I have what I came for, and therefore will not make another attempt at yours or your family’s welfare. To show my remorse, I have left a sample of my new virus. It is more than enough to develop a vaccine for when I try it on the populace. This will not hinder to my research at all, as I will still be able to see my creation in affect by the time you can cure it._

_Dreadfully sorry for all the trouble I have caused you._

_Best wishes to you and your family._

_Sincerely,_

_The Plague Doctor_

“Wow, he may be the most polite ghost I’ve ever fought.” Danny said.

There was a loud cough. Danny turned to find Ophelia on the autopsy table. He rushed over to her and took out the tubes in her arm. He propped her up.

“Ophelia, hey,” he said to her gently,  “You okay honey? Can you hear me? Can you speak?”

Ophelia coughed again to clear her throat and looked up at him. She nodded her head.

“I’ve said this before and I’m saying it again,” she said in her raspy, hoarse voice. “I hate getting sick.”

 


	22. The Old Ringmaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophelia and Francis take a trip to a museum.

Danny tapped his finger against the tabletop, keeping up with the rhythm of his restlessness. He couldn’t tell if the florescent light above his head was flickering or not, or whether it was actually doing anything to illuminate the room and its dark grey walls. The one tiny window in the whole room was barred. The wall in front of him, with the only entrance and exit to the room, was barred as well. Danny felt like he was the inmate in the prison and not just a visitor. He thought he had all his most hated places in his mental list, but now he knows to correct it. He hated educational centers, government offices, laboratories not belonging to his family, anything owned by Vlad, and now prisons on both sides of the inter-dimensional coin.

There was a buzzing sound, letting him know that the guards were bringing him in.

The door opened, three men entered. The two guards, one human, one ghost, were dressed as if they were part of a SWAT team rather than prison security. Their heavy bulk from the body armor made their prisoner seem lankier and weaker than he really was, but it made Danny no less aware of how dangerous this man truly was. His handcuffs, which were also an ecto-inhibitor, held his hands together. They set him on the seat across from Danny, locking his handcuffs into the table to make sure he doesn’t leave his seat. Just as they told Danny when they led him into the room, they were going to leave them in the room alone, but they will be standing outside by the door. If he needed anything, if anything goes wrong at all, he just needs to call out for them and they’ll help. And he shouldn’t try to take care of it on his own. Even though they know he can hold out on his own he can also let things get out of his control. Please, do not give the prisoner a reason to sue them for brutality.

Danny shot him a look of contempt the moment Vlad entered and held it there when the guards left. He returned the look with the smile that had always set Danny on edge. The silent exchange let them both know that Danny didn’t want to be here, and he’s only here because he had no choice.

“Daniel,” said Vlad with a mocking kind tone, “You found time out of your busy day to come all this way to see me? I’m touched. How’s the family?”

Danny said nothing. A smile crept to the corner of his mouth.

“Sorry,” Said Danny after a short pause, “It’s just I hardly recognize you without your black suit.”

Vlad’s smile did not fade.

“Yes, well, I’m fortunate to be incarcerated in a place with navy prison uniforms. Day-glo orange is such a horrid color, so loud and idiotic.”

Danny lost his smile.

“As much as I’d like to spend the whole day exchanging quips, I have friends and a loving family to get back to. So let’s get this over with as quickly as possible.”

“And what exactly is ‘this’?”

“I think you know, Masters. It’s hard not to see that the Ghost King is out.”

“Ah yes, him. I was quite surprised to learn that you weren’t the one to release him, it sounds like something you would be foolish enough to do.”

“I don’t think you have much ground to say that, since you were the one who released him the first time.”

“Touché, Daniel,” sardonicism dripped from Vlad’s words like syrup, “Now, tell me, how does this have anything to do with me?”

“We’re working on a device to contain him, but it will take us some time to complete it. And even then, the only chance we have at defeating him is to find his relics before he does.”

“Ah, of course. And since I was the last one to been seen with the Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire you came here to ask me for their locations. But what makes you so sure that I would be willing to tell you where they are?”

“I thought the fact that Pariah wasn’t particularly fond of you the last time he was out would be enough motivation. He’ll especially dislike you now when he finds his symbols of power in your possession along with his traitorous lackey.”

“If he can find them, that is.” Vlad said with such self-satisfaction that it made Danny’s teeth grind. The longer he’s around Vlad, Danny realized, the more of the man’s past crimes played forward in his head. It made Danny want to hurt him, really hurt him. He tried hard to calm down, push those memories out of his head. Locking them all away in a small closet in the back rooms.

“You can’t believe that they are safe where you put them. You know Pariah Dark, you’ve seen him in action. He’s one of the only few people who can beat the living daylights out of you, and he’s by far the best at it. What do you think will happen once Pariah realizes who took his stuff? He’ll make you tell him where they are and then obliterate you for stealing them in the first place. I’m doing you a favor, Plasmius, it’s way more than you deserve.”

“I don’t need any favors from the likes of you, _Fenton_.” His voice made it sound like a sneer, but the unchanging smile told Danny otherwise. “You see, the beauty of these prison systems is that not only does it keep the prisoner from getting out, it also protects them from anyone trying to get in, and while I hold such a _vital_ piece of information, I believe my welfare is of the greatest importance.”

Danny felt his hand curl into a fist, his ghost energy seeping in. As much as he tried to hide his great struggle to restrain himself, he knew Vlad could see it all and relished it. He always liked to play his cards for all they were worth. It looks like Danny will have to pull a few of his cards as well.

“You know, Masters, I just spoke with the DA and she said that she’s willing to shave a few years off your sentence if you tell us where the relics are.  She’s also willing to add an obstruction charge. I think someone with such great sophistication and luxurious tastes as yourself would want to get out of a place like this as soon as possible.”

Vlad raised an eyebrow.

“Am I to understand that you are both bribing me and threatening me at the same time? I must say, that is quite a feat.”

“Actually, it’s the DA’s office who came up with the ultimatum, not me. But I can’t exactly say that I disagree with her decision.”

Were his hands free, Vlad would’ve leaned back into his chair with his arms crossed and his smirk unfaltering; but since his hands were confined he remained sitting upright. Somehow, something about his posture disturbed Danny more than if he was in that slouch of command.

“It doesn’t matter to me how long I stay here, I have a great deal of patience. If I can survive fourteen years in the dark void of space, I think I can survive a great deal longer inside an institution that is required by law to keep me alive.”

“You have to think about it, Vlad, another charge to your long list will give you life without parole. Do you even know how long we can live for?”

Vlad raise an eyebrow at him, the smile seemed to have shrunk a bit.

“We are the first of our kind, no one knows what we can do. All we know is that we are made of much sterner stuff than an average human being, what does that say for our life span? We could probably live a hundred years, or maybe even a thousand. For all we know, we could live forever, as long as we don’t get ourselves killed. Do you really want to live eternity inside a prison cell? Can you even imagine it? They will know better than to let you around people, they will keep you in solitary confinement the whole time. You will be there, day after day, locked away, utterly alone, knowing that the world is moving on without you beyond these dank, dark concrete walls. Year after year, decade after decade, with no way of telling which is which, as the memory of you slowly wastes away and dies, while my name goes on and thrives generation after generation. And you can’t get out of it, as much as you try. Like you said, these people are here to make sure you stay in, make sure you stay alive. Do you think you are patient enough to wait in this place until you die?”

Vlad tried his best to keep his smug, unaffected composure, but Danny saw. Through those cold midnight eyes, Danny could see it. The fear, the absolute terror he could not hide. Danny managed to hit his vulnerable spot, his innermost fear, and used it against him. Vlad sighed. Danny took it as a sign of surrender.

“Alright Daniel, I’ll tell you what I know about the relics, and you can get them to lighten the sentence for me.”

Danny smiled, “Deal.”

Vlad was silent for a few moments. He was trying to relax himself, regain his composure. Danny realized that this was probably the first time that he’s seen Vlad truly show fear, the first time he’s seen his mask completely shatter and him having to piece it back together again. He both marveled at it and felt utterly disgusted with himself for causing it.

“When I first acquired the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire, I intended on using them for myself. All that power on top of my own, I would’ve been as invincible as the Ghost King, no match for you or your pathetic father. But of course, I had to test it, see how it worked. I needed to know if the power could be transferred.”

He paused.

“You know, it is near impossible to be rid of a ghost. They cannot be destroyed, not completely. You can smash them with ectoranium, you can blast them with a ghost ray, you can even bury them alive in blood blossoms,” Danny’s eyes flashed green at the last statement. Vlad’s arrogant smile returned. “Try as you might, they shall always recover, just at a slower pace. There have been studies, there have been legends, that if you tear a ghost into pieces, evaporate them, they are still there. They are merely scattered fragments of consciousness, finding itself in the atmosphere, fitting every piece of themselves together. Can you imagine how long that would take to put yourself back together molecule by molecule? It would take a hundred years. But eventually, you will be whole again, fully restored, good as new.”

“What does this have to do with the relics?” Danny snapped.

“I’m getting to that, Daniel, have some patience – in all of history, there are only a handful of ghosts that have ever been truly destroyed. The latest ones being my failed attempts at cloning you, which could barely be classified as sentient beings, and there are the victims of Pariah Dark, and by extension, his relics.”

Danny perked up, his eyes widened.

“What?”

“I had the same reaction too when I first learned of it. The Ghost Zone has a few texts relating to Pariah Darks rule. He is far more powerful than anyone could imagine.  He is an entity so powerful that he can destroy ghosts, the only thing in all of existence to destroy ghosts, he eliminates the consciousness of the unfortunate spirit and let its ectoplasm become absorbed into the atmosphere of the Ghost Zone.”

Danny thought about that, and then just as quickly wished he hadn’t. For all he knew, the rocks that he stood on, the doors he had opened, the air he had breathed and the water he had drank, could’ve easily been the remains of a ghost that had long ago (for lack of a better word) perished by the hand of the Ghost King.

“Once he gained his throne, the bloodshed did not stop. He wanted to let everyone know that he was the only one to rule over them. He took some ectoplasm from his own body, weakening himself a good deal, and formed them into two items: The Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire. He told anyone who wished to take his throne must simply wear the two items at once, and they shall receive the burden of his power. This was a trap, a horrible, brilliant trap.”

Another pause, he was giving Danny enough time to let it all sink in. When he thought a sufficient amount had passed, he continued.

“The Fright Knight had been a member of his court during the entirety of Pariah’s reign, he was even a lieutenant of his army when he conquered the land. During that time, he had seen many put on the symbols of the King’s power, and there was not a soul he pitied more than the fools who dared to wear them. The power of the King is something that only the King alone can bear. Anyone else who’d try would be overwhelmed by the power and be obliterated, their energy absorbed into the relics to increase the power of the King. Had I not run those tests, had I not listened to the Knight’s tale, I would have easily been one of those foolish souls.

“After many frustrating hours of testing, I could find no way of safely transferring the power of the relics onto something I could use. Thus, I had no choice but to lock them away until I could put them to good use. Eventually, they became forgotten, cast aside for better, more effective plans. When I left the planet after my greatest failure, I left them behind as well.

“Years later, when I returned to Earth, I found my houses ransacked and a great deal of my possessions stolen, including the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire.”

“So, you don’t have an idea where they are?”

“Sadly, no.”

Danny got up from his seat with his hands on the edge of the table to both lean against and push away from.

“I don’t believe this.” Danny started.

“Believe it Daniel, it’s the truth.” Vlad said ever so calmly. “You can check my estates if you wish, every one of them, they are simply not there.”

“And how am I supposed to find them? They’ve been gone for nearly thirty years, I don’t even know where to look.”

“That’s not my problem, is it? Now, about this deal, exactly how many years am I getting taken off?”

“What do you mean? You didn’t tell me anything?”

“I told you what I know, that was the deal. Just because it wasn’t what you wanted to hear doesn’t make it any less true. As I upheld my end of the bargain, you must uphold yours.”

Danny’s  fingers clawed at the table’s surface in their need to curl into fists. All the crimes came all at once. His flashing green eyes were his only break in his restraint.

“You’ll get five years taken out of the total sentencing for all the crimes you’ve committed.”

“That’s hardly anything.”

“It’s all you’re getting, be glad I’m making a deal at all.”

Danny walked over to the doorway and called for the guards. They came in at hardly any time. They went to the table to disconnect Vlad.

“See you on your court date, Plasmius.” Danny said as the guards led Vlad out.

“I count on it.” said Vlad. He made the guards stop before passing Danny to add, “Oh, and make sure to bring the family next time you visit. Seeing that little girl of yours just brightens my day.”

Danny scowled at him. The guards forced Vlad to keep going and they were out the door.

“And tell them I said hello,” Vlad said as he kept walking. “Let them know that old Uncle Vlad has been thinking of you all.”

“I only wish you were dumb enough to wear the Crown.” Danny muttered to himself.

* * *

“Alright, one more code and….”

Sam typed in the last code to unlock the inhibitor cuff from her daughter’s wrist. The cuff beeped before it unlocked with a click.

“Done”

Sam took the cuff off Ophelia’s wrist.

“Congratulations, Ophelia, you are now officially a free woman.”

Ophelia rotated her wrist. The scars over where the cuff latched on were already starting to fade. She glowed a bright green as the ghost energy surged within her unrestrained. Ophelia got up from her seat in the living room and floated a few feet in the air. She giggled before zipping around the house like an intangible rubber ball. Cujo got up from his more relaxed position on the couch and yipped at the green blurs. Sam nearly jumped out of her seat when Ophelia hugged her from behind.

“Thank you, Mom, thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh my gosh, it feels like it’s been forever since I had my powers, I don’t think I’ll ever walk on the ground again!”

Sam couldn’t help but laugh at her daughter’s excitement. The opening of the door caught her eye and she saw Danny come in.

“Oh, hey honey.”

“Dad!”

Ophelia shot right at Danny and attacked him with a hug.

“Look Dad, I got my powers back.”

“That’s nice, sweetie.” Danny said with a smile that worried Sam. She could tell something was upsetting him. He turned to her. “Sam, can I see you in the kitchen for a second?”

Sam nodded. She got up from her seat and followed him into the kitchen. She quickly looked over her shoulder. Ophelia landed on the couch with Cujo by her side. She looked just as worried as her mother. She turned back to Danny at the counter. He checked to see if Ophelia was out of earshot before looking over to Sam.

“How was your talk with Vlad?” she asked.

“Just as well as you’d expect it to go.” Danny said bitterly.

“Did he tell you where they are?”

“No, he-“

Danny looked over Sam’s shoulder.

“Phé, I know you’re there.”

Sam turned around just in time to see Ophelia appear at the doorway out of nowhere. She crossed her arms and pouted.

“Ophelia, I need you to wait in the other room while I talk with your mother.”

“Why? What are you talking about?”

“Nothing you need to know right now. Go to your room before I slap the Cuff back on you.”

Ophelia groaned.

“Fine, but I will find out what you’re talking about eventually.”

With that, she flew out of the kitchen and up the stairs into her room. Cujo sat at the bottom of the stairs and yipped before clambering up after her. After a moment, Danny went back to Sam.

“Vlad said that he lost the relics long ago. Someone stole them when he was up in space.”

Sam was both surprised and angry. Of course Masters would lose the most powerful artifacts in the Ghost Zone. If his own actions didn’t endanger people his carelessness would.

“So what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know, maybe we should look at his old estates to see if we can find some clues as to who stole them.”

“That theft was twenty years ago, whatever evidence there was would be gone by now. And what makes you think you’ll be able to track the thieves down if Vlad couldn’t?”

“For starters, I’m not going to be distracted by a life-long obsession to destroy an innocent family.” Danny said, his tone even more bitter than before. He stopped and sighed, looking up at her with those sad blue eyes she knew so well. “And it’s at least a start. We can have Tucker and Valarie help us out and cover more ground.”

“Did Vlad say which estate he kept them in?”

“No, but I doubt he’s going to tell me anytime soon unless I can get him immunity.”

“Which will never happen in a million eternities.” 

“Exactly, so we should search through each one for any clues.”

Sam bit her lip. She looked away and hugged herself.  
  
“Are you sure you want to go back there? The last time we searched his house…”

Danny wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“Yeah, I know. I’ll never stop knowing. But we need to go there to find the relics. If we don’t find it, Pariah will.”

“And then it’s all over, I know. Still, you think you can go back there?”

His whole body became tense.

“I have to, it’s our only chance.”

* * *

“Why are we here again?”

Ophelia looked up at the old house her parents had just parked in front of. It was the largest mansion in Poulter Heights, therefore the largest in town, but yet no one ever dared live in it or even maintained it well enough to sell it. It sat there abandoned, falling apart little by little with age, already becoming an eyesore of the neighborhood in nearly twenty-five years. Ophelia understood why this was so, she wouldn’t want to live there either knowing who the previous owner was.

“This is one of Vlad’s old estates.” Her dad answered.

“Yeah, I got that, in fact it gives me more of a right to ask _why_ are we _here_?”

“This is one of the last places Pariah’s relics were seen. If we have any chance of finding them, we have to start here.”

Looking at the house again, she felt her feet fuse themselves to the sidewalk.

“Are you sure there isn’t a better way?”

“If there was a better way, none of us would be here. Trust me, Phé, there is nobody who could hate this more than me.”

“I could think of one.” She muttered under her breath.

“Relax, sweetie,” her mom told her reassuringly, “No one’s been near this house in years, dead or alive. It’s not like you’re going to run into Vlad himself in there, he’s in jail.”

“I guess you’re right. But you have to admit, this place is creepy even in ghost standards.”

“You should’ve seen it when Vlad lived in it.” Her dad said in a serious tone, “You would think this is nothing compared to what happened behind those doors.”

Whatever little bit of courage she had went out like a candle flame. She swallowed the air hard in a loud gulp looking at the house.

“Can I wait out here?” she asked, finding that her voice had run away in fear like she should be.

“Quit being such a crybaby.”

Ophelia eyes flashed as she looked over her shoulder. Francis stepped out of Auntie Val’s cruiser just as it pulled up besides her parents’ car. Uncle Tucker and Auntie Val came out shortly after him.

Ophelia looked over to her parents, trying to cover up her great dislike of her god brother’s presence.

“Why’s he here?” she said, pointing to Francis.

“Well unlike _some_ people, I actually want to be here.” He said so matter-o-factly, “I think it’s cool to look into the house of the world’s most infamous criminal. You know, get into their heads by getting into their homes. People pay a lot of money to go into places like these.” 

“So do they to jump off a bridge tethered by a rubber band, it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”

Francis smiled, making no effort to repress a mocking snort.

“You have no problem going into the most dangerous part of the Ghost Zone at the most dangerous time and yet you’re petrified of going into some run down house no one’s touched in twenty-four years? That might be the definition of stupid.”

“Shut up!”

“What? I’m just pointing out the obvious.”

“Okay, that’s enough you two.” Said Auntie Val, standing between them as she did so.

“Oh, come on, Mom, we’re just joking around.” Francis gave Ophelia a look to tell her to play along. Ophelia sighed.

“Yeah, just joking.”

“Well, joking or no, that’s enough. Cold cases like these need meticulous inspection, and you can’t do that taking jabs at each other.”

“Yes, Auntie Val,” Ophelia said at the same time as Francis said “Yes, Mom.”

“Oh, come on, Val,” said Uncle Tucker as he unloaded some equipment from Auntie Val’s car. “You don’t need to make everything so serious.”

“Oh, and I’m supposed to joke about everything like you do? If you haven’t noticed, we’re trying to find the most powerful artifacts in the universe to prevent the end of the world.”

“Typical Val, if she isn’t the Ice Queen she’s the Drama Queen.”

“Yes, and you were the court jester nobody found funny.”

“Okay, that’s enough you two.” Said Francis, as he stood between his parents to mimic his mother. “Cold cases like these need meticulous inspection, and you can’t do that taking jabs at each other.”

“You’ve spent too much time with your father.” Valarie said, laughing in spite of herself. “He’s poisoned you with his sense of humor.”

Ophelia couldn’t help but smile. She liked the Francis his parents saw, he’s fun and nice and not completely full of himself. If only the real Francis was like this Francis.

Ophelia’s parents came in right as the laughter died.

“Okay, so how are we doing this?” asked her mother.

Valarie kept her smile as she returned to her detective self.

“I was thinking we each take a section of the house. Tucker, you have those blueprints?”

“The real ones or the ones that Masters kept in City Hall?”

“Which do you think?”

Tucker smiled as he took out his tablet.

“That’s a trick question, by the way, there is only one set of blueprints. Since he was mayor, he didn’t bother making fakes.”

He opened the blueprint scans. Everyone crowded around Tucker and his tablet, with Ophelia getting squeezed out. She floated a few inches to get a peak just over Francis’ head.

“Hey, don’t float over me!”

“Sorry, I can’t see anything from where I am.”

Tucker looked up at her.

“Oh, wait, here, I’ve got a new program that will help. I’ve been waiting for an excuse to use this since I had it installed into my devices.”

Tucker hit a few keys and the screen glowed up into a blue-white beam. The blueprints were projected within the beam as if they were drawn in the air with a three-dimensional pen. Everyone took a step back now that it was easier to see.

“Cool.” Ophelia said in awe.

“Holographic projector screen,” said Francis, “Pretty impressive, Dad.”

Tucker acknowledged the compliment with a nod and went back to the blueprints.

“So the house has five floors: three above ground, two under. What we could do is have one of us each take a floor and then two can take the odd floor.”

“Or I could go home and then it will be even.” Ophelia chirped.  
  
“Oh, quit being such a baby.” Francis said with a rather hard slap on the back. “Don’t you want to go down to the basement where he did all of his evil experiments?”

“Having been on the bad end of a few of his, no, not really.”

Ophelia felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see her father smiling comfortingly down at her.

“It’s okay, honey, how about you go with me?” With a pause, he added in a quieter voice, “It’ll be good for the both of us.”

Ophelia looked back to the house. She nodded her head more and more fervently the longer she looked at it.

“I’d like that, thank you.”

* * *

Out of all the floors to get, she and her dad ended up with the basement lab. There was no power to turn the lights on, so her dad had to toss a few balls of ghost energy into the air. Even when she added a few of her own, the lights didn’t do much to illuminate the dark and spacious room.

“Be careful, this equipment is meant to react to EGM. The machinery here has probably become more sensitive over the years. Don’t touch anything until I’ve gotten a look at it.”

“Got it.”

She looked around at her environment. Everything had a think layer of dust on it, seen more prominently on the dead screens. There were cobwebs everywhere, which surprised her in thinking that any sort of creature would want to live here. Just from what she saw, it was hard to believe anyone had ever used this place at all. From what her insight let her see, she wished she didn’t see. The pure malice that stayed in the house made her feel nauseous.  The more and more she stayed and looked around, the more and more lightheaded she felt and the harder and harder it became for her to breath. She leaned against something for support, not even seeing what it was first or if it was safe. It came over her like a giant wave.

 

She saw a girl, much younger than her, strapped to a table standing upright. There were currents of electricity were going through her, so intense that they could be seen surrounding her in a cloud of lightning. The currents hurt, and Ophelia felt it. Sweat was dripping off the girl, making her look like she was melting. To her horror, Ophelia saw that what was dripping off her wasn’t sweat, but bright green ectoplasm. She was actually melting, and there was a bucket beneath her to catch whatever would be left of her. Her screams bounced off the walls with the harsh ricochets of bullets. Ophelia knew those screams, she’s heard them plenty of times before. They weren’t meant to get anyone’s attention, since the screamer knew there was no one there to hear it, at least not someone that would help her. They were cries of pure agony, a mindless reaction to pain that she had no control over. Despite knowing they weren’t around to hear, a part of her hoped that calling out their name would summon them to her rescue. The more pain she felt, the more desperately she called the name.

“Danny!”…

 

Ophelia pulled away from the table she was leaning against and backed from it as far as she could. When she hit the wall behind her, she slid down it while her hands clawed the spots behind her ears. She was shaking violently, breathing heavily. Her eyes were shut tight as she tried to force the image out of her mind. She couldn’t tell if she was crying or not, her breathing sounded a lot like sobbing but she couldn’t feel any tears.

She heard the heavy pounds of footsteps as her dad raced to her. Was she breathing that loud or did she scream without knowing it?

“Ophelia!” he cried out, “Ophelia, are you okay?”

He knelt down in front of her and lightly, cautiously touched her shoulder. He repeated his question.

“Ophelia, are you okay?”

She didn’t looked up at him, nor did she speak. She only nodded her head to confirm to her father that she was okay.

“What happened?”

She couldn’t think straight. She tried to get the words out but they were jumbled and fast.

“I touched – I saw, I saw something – something bad - happening to Dani.”

“Dani? How? She’s not…” Danny looked around and stopped at the table Ophelia had just touched. He was quiet for a moment. She thought he was remembering what she just saw.

“That thing Vlad was talking about, that ability of yours he said you were hiding, is that what happened?”

Ophelia nodded.

“Sometimes, if a house old enough or a lot a stuff has happened to it, it remembers. I saw…I saw what it remembered.” She felt like she was really going to cry. “He melted Dani.”

She made a lunge and hugged her dad like he was the only thing that was keeping her from drowning. Her dad hugged her back. He was gentler than she was, trying to console her while she was squeezing the air out of him.

“It’s okay, honey, it’s okay. He didn’t melt her. I saved her just in time. Dani’s alright, you know that, it all happened a long time ago.”

“I know…I know… but I could feel it. What she felt. It hurt, Dad, it really hurt.”

She unlatched herself to look up at her dad.

“I want to go home.”

Her dad nodded in a slow, rhythmic way that told her he was still taking it all in and attempting to process it.

“Yeah, sure, of course you can. Do you need me to take you?”

“No,” she pulled herself up from the floor. She was still a little lightheaded, but she tried no to let her dad see it. “No, I’m fine. I can fly home from here. I haven’t flown in so long, it will be nice for me. Get some fresh air, you know?”

“Okay, but be careful. Go straight home, no detours. Call me as soon as you get there so I know you’re okay.”

“Okay, Dad.”

“And turn on the security system, too?”

“Why? It’s the middle of the day.”

“Just humor me, please.”

“Okay, Dad.”

He gave her a kiss on her forehead and one last hug.

“I love you, honey, please be careful.”

“Love you too, Dad, see you at home.”

And with that, she headed towards the door. On her way, she noticed something caught under a broken off piece of ceiling. She knelt down and pushed away the piece of ceiling to get a better look at it. It was a drawing of a green bat painted onto the floor. It looked like it was glowing, making her wonder if it actually was or if it is made with a special paint that was reflecting the minimal light of their ghost lights.

She saw a psyche tied to it that didn’t belong to anything related to the house. A vandal? No one would be brave enough to come down here. And even then, why would they paint it on the floor instead of the wall? Could it be the thief they came here to look for? But that made even less sense, why would they come here, rob a house, and then paint a green bat on the floor? Maybe a calling card?

Ophelia lightly touched the bat with her fingertips. She saw a face, a whole person. Though not a living person, a ghost.

The tattoo glowed brighter at her touch. She pulled away startled when she felt something squirm under her fingers. The drawing peeled itself off the floor and floated at her eye level. It was flapping like it was a real bat, its two dimensional wings curving like paper. It floated there for a moment, it was almost like it wanted to get a good look at her with its blank red eyes. It then turned and flapped away, disappearing completely before reaching the ceiling.

Ophelia stared at the empty space the bat once was and then back at her fingers. That must be the thief, the ghost she saw. She became even more confused than before. Only a ghost who knew about Vlad would know about this place and the valuable things he has. Who would want to steal from Vlad knowing who he is? Even on the off chance that they didn’t know who Vlad was, every ghost there ever was knows about the Ghost King and his relics. No ghost dead would be foolish enough to steal from Pariah Dark, especially if the objects they were stealing were the very symbols of his power. Only a human would be that stupid.

Ophelia kept these questions in her mind and she phased through the ceiling. She spent her flight home imprinting every detail of the ghost she saw in her memory.

* * *

Of course Necrophelia got the lab floor, possibly the coolest part of the whole house, while Francis got stuck with the floor with the boring old library.  Why would anyone want to keep a whole room full of boring, heavy old paper books so they could just sit there and gather dust and mold. He could easily download this entire library onto his computer tablet and read it from there. There were a few other things around the room. They weren’t any more interesting to Francis than the books. He saw from the empty spaces on the shelves that all the cool stuff had been stolen years ago.

Bored, he ran his flashlight and tracer through the room with the same tedious impatience he had with the other rooms. He had thought the house of the world’s most notorious criminal would be exciting. He wasn’t expecting a serial killer’s workshop or a hidden treasure room, but he did expect something at least a little more interesting than a room full of dusty old books.

What made it all the worse was knowing that Ophelia was down in the fun rooms, looking at all the old machines Masters used to plot the doom of Danny Phantom. He bet that Ophelia faked being scared, knowing that Uncle Danny would have her go with him and that he would take the lab floors. She _knew_ he wanted to see the lab and took it just so he couldn’t have it! No, no, she wouldn’t devise something like that. She would have to think of someone other than herself to do something to spite him. She probably did all this to get attention, as she usually does. She knew that whatever evidence there was to find it would be in the lab, and so she got herself down there to be the hero, again. Even if she doesn’t find it herself, she’ll get the credit with Uncle Danny.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of the tracer going off. It was beeping loudly as he pointed to a section of a bookcase. The screen showed a green blob in that area, noting that there was no match for the ecto-signature. Francis put his flashlight down on the table across from the bookcase and pointed it to the area where the reading came from. He pulled a book and flipped through the pages to see if there was anything prominently marked inside, all while trying to keep the dust from blowing directly into his face. A quick scan with the tracer showed that it was not the source of the reading. He did this with every book, one by one, until he went through the whole section on the shelf without a single sign of the source.

He banged the palm of his hand against the tracer, thinking that it must be malfunctioning. He pointed the trace to the shelf and it said that the source of ghost energy was still there. He lowered it and looked at the section. Right then, he spotted something on the back of the bookcase. He only could only see a sliver of it, the rest concealed in the shadows the flashlight couldn’t reach from its angle. Francis took the flashlight and shined into the back of the bookcase.

There was an image painted to the wall of the bookcase. It was a green skull burning in flames of the same color. He couldn’t tell if the image was faintly glowing or if it was reflecting the light from his flashlight. He held the tracer to the skull and found that it was the source of the ghost energy he was looking for.

“This definitely isn’t something by Masters.” He thought aloud. With a growing smile, he concluded, “Looks like our thief is a ghost.”

The feedback from his earpiece made him jump, banging his head on the shelf.

“Ow!”

“Francis?” came his mother’s voice. “Francis, are you okay?”

While rubbing the bump on his head, Francis put his finger to the earpiece to turn on the microphone.

“Yeah, Mom, I’m fine.”

“Good. Have you found anything?”

Francis looked over to the skull. He could tell his mother, and then she and Dad and Uncle Danny and Aunt Sam will go out and find the thief though the skull. He’ll get a thanks and credit to finding a crucial part of the investigation.

“Francis? Hello? Did you find anything?”

But then again, nobody cares about the forensics guy. The big hero is the guy who finds the evidence _and_ catches the perp.

“Francis!”

Francis jumped and hit his head again.

“Ow!”

“Francis, are you okay?”

“I would be a lot better if you didn’t shout and make me hit my head on things.” He grumbled.

“Then you should answer me when I ask you a question. Did you find anything?”

“No, Mom, I haven’t. I thought I did, but it turned out I was wrong. That’s why I didn’t answer, I just wanted to make sure.”

“Okay, thanks. Next time, tell me what you’re doing as you’re doing it. No silences, you could be on the ground dead for all I know.”

“Got it, Mom. Hey, since I checked every room on my floor, can I go down to see the labs for myself? It’s the whole reason why I came here, after all.”

“Fine, I’ll let Danny know that you’re making your way down there.”

“No need, I was just about to call in to say Phé went home.”

“Really, why?”

“…It was a little too much for her….gave her a bit of a shock…couldn’t handle it. I sent her home so she could rest.”

Francis smiled. So the crybaby wasn’t faking it. And now he gets to go down to the lab and a chance to humiliate her by telling the whole school how she whimped out.

“This may be the best day of my life.” He mused to himself.

Before he left the room, he snapped a picture of the skull with his phone and saved the readings on the tracer so he could load it into his computer later. As soon as he took the picture, the skull started glowing. Francis saw it was glow and switched from taking stills to recording video. The image started to tremble, the flames licking around the skull as if they were real. The image peeled itself from there and shot straight out of the bookcase, phasing through Francis. He turned around with the phone directed in front of him. He soon found the skull again, floating a little bit above his head. The skull stayed there for a moment, giving Francis the creeps thinking that it was somehow looking at him. The skull gave a high-pitched cackle before it flew up and through the ceiling disappearing completely.

Francis rolled his eyes as he stopped the video recording.

“Ghosts,” he scoffed.

* * *

Ophelia let the white rings transform her into the ghost she saw from the bat drawing. She was a head or two taller, given more height by a black Mohawk shaped into foot-long spikes. She had pure red eyes and a nose ring. Her skin was green and exposed beyond Ophelia’s comfort in what was nothing more than a leather bikini with matching boots and long, red velvet cape and hood. The most noticeable trait of this form was that it was covered neck to toe in tattoos.

Dani quickly went to snapping pictures of this form with Ophelia’s digital camera.

“You got it?” Ophelia asked in her own voice, having no other to give to this form.

“Yep, you’re good.” Dani said, resting the camera on her lap to prove it.

“Good.” Opehlia immediately went back to her own natural form. “I hate shape-shifting, it just feels so wrong.”

“You know we transform all the time, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s our own bodies. Taking somebody else’s appearance is different, way different. It feels like I’m wearing one of those cheap, pre-packaged drugstore Halloween costumes that’s a size too small and you have an allergic reaction to it.”

“Well, probably if you practice it a little more it won’t feel as weird to you. New powers are like breaking into a new pair of shoes-“

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Ophelia said as she took her camera from Dani. “Though Dad likes to use the ‘toning muscle’ analogy.”

She set the camera down on her desk and plugged it into her computer.

“So why are you having me help you take pictures of a scantily clad tattoo lady?”

“I need to use your login on the federal data-base to see if she’s on it.”

“And you couldn’t use Mom or Dad’s login because…?”

“I don’t want tell them yet until I know if this is someone they could recognize.”

“Right, because then they’ll have to report everything and putting down ‘my daughter is a living ecto-tracer’ would raise a few questions.” With a hint of bitterness, Dani added, “Oh, and thanks for letting me be the last one to hear about that, by the way.”

 “I already apologized for that.” Ophelia said with an exasperated sigh. She pushed her chair back so Dani could get to the computer. “Login, please.”

Dani leaned over and typed in her code.

* * *

Hacking into his mother’s login was too easy for Francis, especially since she had the same password for everything. Once he got into the data-base, he submitted his pictured of the skull into the profile search.

“What are you doing?”

He looked over his shoulder to see Marti right behind him.

“None of your business, Marti, now get out of my room.”

He turned back to his computer and typed in a few details about the skull image in the description.

“What’s that?”

Francis quickly covered the computer screen with his hands when Marti popped her head in to see it.

“I told you to get out of my room.”

“Is that Mommy’s police data-base program she told us never to fool around with?”

“I’m not fooling around with it, I’m doing research.”

“Does Mom know you’re using her program?”

“No, and she’s not gonna.”

“Why not?”

“Because little girls who snitch on their big brothers don’t get that new videogame they been asking Santa for since July.”

“Big brothers don’t get snitched on when they throw in that prototype their daddies gave them last week.”

“Deal, now scram.”

With a nod and a giggle, Marti dashed out of the room and shut the door behind her. Francis went back to his computer and added one last bit of information before submitting the search.

After a few seconds of calculating, the database had a match. Francis opened the profile and smiled.

“Bingo”

* * *

“Lydia”

The ghost in the picture was the exact same one she saw through the bat. Dani enlarged the second photo of her in the record, a full body portrait where she wore the exact same clothes (or rather lack of clothes) Ophelia envisioned her in.

“You see all these tattoos? According to these records, her special ability was to summon these from her skin and control them to do whatever she wanted.”

“So that bat drawing I saw, it was one of her tattoos?”

Dani nodded, “It must have somehow gotten trapped in Vlad’s lab when she was there. I’m surprised that she hadn’t gone back for it when she noticed it was gone.”

“I don’t think she ever noticed it was gone at all. Do you see how many tattoos she’s got? I’m losing count just on her leg. So, what else does it say about her?”  
  
“Not a lot, at least not anything useful. No one has seen her in over twenty years, and if they have it’s not on any police database. The only full record here is from the Guys in White, and we all know how unreliable their records are. She’s got numerous charges of grand larceny, again no recent than twenty years, and has been a suspect in a few more robbery cases since then. There is no ecto-signature on file, no recorded place of residence in GZ and no specific place anyone suspects to find her if she were to stay on the Human Plane.”

“That’s going to make it very hard to think up a plausible story of how my parents found her. Is there anything in there about her encountering Mom and Dad? Perhaps if they know her, they could be able to recognize her by the tattoo.”

Dani looked at the screen in deep concentration as she tried to find more information. Ophelia had a bad feeling that this search wouldn’t be as easy as she had hoped.

“Mmm, maybe. The case where she was actually charged mentions your parents and Tucker, but they weren’t dealing directly with her.”

“How’s that?”

“She was working for someone else in all the robberies. A human who knew enough about ghosts to control them. Apparently, he managed to brainwash Danny into doing his dirty work. Strange thing about her, though, was that she seemed to be the only ghost who continued to work with him after the first arrest.”

“Does it say anything about this guy?”

“Better, he’s got his own file.”

* * *

Frederich Isak Showenhower, a.k.a. Freakshow, had his own file on the database that was not only more detailed than the ghost Lydia’s, but even had more information about her than he own file. This man may be the only human to be considered as dangerous as a ghost on the GHCU most wanted list, at least, the only full human. Francis knew that that was nothing to sneeze at, as there were only so many people who were on that list while maintaining a pulse. He read on with more intrigue than he had ever had for any ghost.

According to the file, the Showenhower family had known more about ghostly artifacts than anyone on Earth, treating them as real objects when people considered them stuff of legends. In fact, to this day the Showenhowers’ logs on the supernatural remained the main source for scholars. While some members of the family continued the research, others used what information they already had for their own purposes. Freakshow was one of them.

Using the family’s circus as a front, he used a magic scepter to make the ghosts under his control commit robberies in every town they preformed in. One of them happened to be Amity Park, where he sought the famous ghost boy as a new addition to his troupe. It went without saying that his career as ringmaster came to an abrupt end in Amity Park.

Lydia, the ghost Francis found through the flaming skull tattoo, was one of the ghosts in Freakshow’s troupe. She was captured along with Freakshow by the Guys in White and was responsible for their escape. No one had ever seen her since, with Freakshow being returned to the Guys alone thanks to Danny Phantom.

Francis looked at the screen as he sunk deep into his thoughts. If anyone would know where this Lydia ghost would be, it would have to be this Freakshow guy. Maybe it he could talk to him, he’ll get closer to finding her and to finding the Ring. Francis scrolled down the page to find more recent information on Freakshow. According to the attached prison records, he was release a little over five years ago on parole. Francis smiled when he found the address to the man’s current place of residence.

Who knew being the hero would be so easy?

* * *

The Museum of the Paranormal, located in an otherwise unnoticeable town along the Pacific Coast, was no more than five years old, yet held countless wonders of the ghostly realms. Founded and run by Professor Frederich Showenhower, who has written many books on the subject of ghosts. The museum may be five years old, but the building itself was far from it. It looked like an old vaudeville theatre, not that much bigger than the Presto Theatre, as Ophelia noted to herself. She tried to imagine how it must look inside, the vital organs of the stage scooped out and bones rearranged to a more harmonious setting to display the various artifacts. She wondered more about the artifacts themselves, and how he may have acquired them. She tried not to jump to conclusions about the provenance of artifacts, a good amount of them are part of the family collection after all, but she had a hard time ignoring the criminal record. It wasn’t that she had a prejudice to ex-cons, after all, nearly everyone she knew had spent some time in Walker’s prison, including herself, but the police reports about his crimes made her skin crawl. He used magic to brainwash ghosts to perform in his circus by day and rob the town blind by night, and one of them was her father. What was worse was that it wasn’t just him that had enslaved the poor spirits, he inherited them, this had been going on for _generations._ How someone could be so cruel as to keep entities under their control for that long she hoped to never understand. Ophelia took a deep breath to calm herself before going into the museum.

The man may have been cruel, but he knew a thing or two about interior architecture. The lobby of the old theatre was spacious, which was taken to its full advantage by filling the area with as many displays as it comfortably could. Windows were built into the walls to show a few artifacts, as well as along the stairs that would have led to the balcony seats. Standing in the center of the room was a realistic scale model of the known parts of the Ghost Zone, complete with floating doors and rocks and even natural portals that would open and close at random places at random times. Ophelia knew that it had to be a hologram, but it was made to look so real that she had to check if no one was looking and touch one of the floating doors to see for herself.

She quickly pulled her hand away when she sensed someone coming in. When her insight told her who it was she did a double take in her head.

“No way…” she thought aloud.

She turned to the entrance in time to see Francis walk in. They shared the same look of surprise and annoyance that they may as well been a mirror image of one another.

“You!” they said, almost simultaneously. “What are you doing here?”

“Working on a case,” she said, “you know, finding the Relics, the only things that’s keeping the world from becoming Ghost Zone, Part Two?”

Francis looked at her with such anger it was like she just punched him in the face.

“Of course you did, you couldn’t let me have this one, could you?”

Ophelia raised an eyebrow, utterly confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m working on this case!”

“Really, Auntie Val let you go on a case alone?”

“Of course not! No one is supposed to know until I solve the case myself. Until you came along to steal my thunder.”

“Steal your – how am I stealing your thunder if I didn’t even know you were coming here! Wait, how did you even get here without your parents knowing?”

“None of your business, Necro!”

“Can I help you?”

Both Ophelia and Francis jumped when they found an old man stand right by them. “Jeez, man!” said Francis, “You can start by not sneaking up at us like that.”

Where did he come from? Ophelia must have been so caught up fighting with Francis that she didn’t even notice him or even picked up his psyche.

He was an old man. Not as old as Grandma Manson, but certainly older than her parents. He had red eyes and skin she thought was unusually pale even for an albino, making his wrinkles show like crumbed paper. She assumed his hair would’ve been the same eerie white if he hadn’t shaved himself bald. He wore a black tweed suit with a red shirt underneath. He had half-moon glasses perched upon his long, beaklike nose, and leaned against a black cane with a red crystal fixed upon the handle. Ophelia wasn’t sure if he actually needed the cane or glasses or if they were part of his “wise old professor” appearance. From those half-moon spectacles, those faded red eyes looked down at them with suspicion masked as curiosity.

Ophelia quickly composed herself and smiled at him.

“You must be Professor Showenhower,” she said in a cheery voice. “My friend and I here are big fans of your family’s work, including yours of course.”

Showenhower smiled, obviously flattered.

“Oh, well, thank you, then. Welcome to the Museum of the Paranormal, holding the largest collection of ghostly artifacts known to man. Please, feel free to look around.”

“Actually,” said Francis, “we were hoping to talk with you. Hear your opinions on ghosts in person, and everything.”

Showenhower looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Usually if someone wanted to hear me speak, they would go to one of the lectures I give to some of the colleges in the area, or at least make an appointment. But since this is a particularly slow day for me, I suppose I can entertain you. How about I give you a tour around and we can talk in my office if there are anymore questions left.”

“That sounds wonderful, Professor.” Ophelia answered without giving Francis a chance. She could feel him giving her the evil eye. Since they were little, Francis had little patience for antiquity. He would toss out the old without a second thought to make way for the new, and then toss out that new for an even newer new. Because of that mentality, museums were absolute torture for him, as it forced him to look at things he couldn’t care less about. She gave him a look back to tell him to suck it up, he wanted to see what it’s like to play detective and this was what it’s like.

Showenhower smiled again, and raised his arm as a welcome.

“Come, come, let’s start the tour from the beginning, with the oldest existing objects of ghostly power.”

He put his hand behind Ophelia’s back to lead her to one side of the room. As he did, an image flashed behind her eyes.

 

It was the Ghost Zone. She felt like she knew exactly where it was, but where she thought it was looked nothing like what she saw. He stood on a flying rock, looking over the ghosts beneath him. There were thousands of them, if not millions. It was like every single inhabitant of that world was there, though she could not recognize a soul. It came to her that these ghosts were older, a lot older than any she knew, and what she was witnessing happened a long, long, long time ago. They all looked small through his eyes, like bugs scuttling at his feet.  They looked tired and worn, some were sustaining injuries, decorated with bandages and patches, crutches and slings. Despite their haggard appearances, they all look up at him with the same strong, irrefutable expression: pure submissive terror. She was taken aback, she had never seen a ghost look like this before. She didn’t even know they could.

One by one, row by row, they all kneeled before him. It looked more like an act of surrender instead a show of loyalty. They called out his name, proclaiming him the King of All Ghosts. Long live the King…

 

Ophelia came out of her trance rather abruptly when she tripped over a step and fell to the ground. She pulled herself up on her knees and turned herself around. She looked up to see Showenhower and Francis looking down at her. Showenhower showed concern, while Francis quietly laughed to himself, both perfectly normal reactions to someone falling flat on their face.

“I told you to watch your step,” said Showenhower in a rather irritated tone, “are you alright, girl?”

What was that? She thought to herself, thinking back to what she saw. Where did that come from? Freakshow? How could he possibly retain a memory that wasn’t even his, let alone of something that happened thousands of years before he was even born?

“Young lady, are you alright?”

Ophelia pulled herself out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” She said.

“Good, one thing I don't need is a lawsuit on my hands. Here, let me help you up.”

With one hand one the cane as support, he knelt down and offered her his other hand. She took his hand and he pulled her back up to her feet. As he did so, she caught a glance to the hand that was on the cane. It was the same hand he had on her back moments before, or was it minutes? She noticed he had something on that hand. A ring. It was made of some strange green metal, with a green skull against a black lacquer background. It’s tiny red eyes stared back at her with as much malice an inanimate piece of jewelry could give to a person. The psyche attached to it was strong, assaulting her sense just as she spotted the ring. The intensity of it made her realize that the psyche wasn’t attached to the ring. The entire _ring_ was pure ghost energy, and she knew the ghost. Even if she hadn’t met the ghost before, she would have known who it was.

“Thank you,” she said once she was back on her feet. Hoping to draw Francis’ attention, she added. “My, what a wonderful _ring_ you’ve got there.”

Showenhower looked down at the ring, lifting his hand to allow her and Francis to see it.

“Why, thank you, my dear,” he said, beaming with pride, “it’s an old family heirloom. Given to me by my father, and to him by his father, and so on throughout all the generations of men in my family.”

Ophelia caught a glimpse of Francis, who was looking at the ring with wide-eyed shock.

“That’s an interesting color it has, that bright green. What kind of metal is that?”

“I’m not exactly sure. A few of my living relatives believed it to be some kind of ghostly mineral, thinking the ring is the very first artifact the Showenhowers ever collected. See the marking on top? That’s the family crest. It’s been debated over the years weather the crest came first or if the ring inspired it, supporting the oldest artifact theory.”

She had to give it to the guy, he’s really good at lying through his teeth. Almost as good as Vlad.

“If it’s truly the oldest artifact, why do you wear it around?” asked Francis, “Shouldn’t it belong behind one of these glass cases? Or better yet a safety deposit box?”

The expression of pride turned to a look of suspicion directed at Francis.

“My ring is not part of the museum for a good reason, and I would prefer you not ask anymore questions irrelevant to the exhibitions until after the tour. Come along now, we have a lot to see.”

He walked ahead of them, leaving them very little chance to catch up with him. Ophelia exchanged glances with Francis. They both knew what that ring really was and what the real reason was that he wouldn’t display it. She was glad that she didn’t have to go through too much trouble to find the Relics, though Francis didn’t seem as glad as she was. He was staring daggers at her, and she rolled her eyes as she left to catch up with the old man. Of course, where she would see this as a victory, he would see it as him not finding the Ring of Rage first.

* * *

Francis didn’t expect to find anything he needed immediately, or if he did that he wouldn’t be heading home that night. Because of that foresight, he booked a room at a modest hotel not too far away from the museum. Ophelia, apparently, didn’t have that foresight, or thought she would transport herself home the non-corporeal way just as she had to get here. After the most boring two hours of his life, he went back to his room. As if she thought she hadn’t irritated him enough, she went back to the inn with him.

“That went better than I thought.” Ophelia said, plopping herself down on _his_ bed.

“Yeah, so much better.” He muttered, “Now we can tell them how _you_ found the Ring of Rage and saved the day, yet again.”

“Come on, Franny, you would’ve found it too. I mean, it’s _right there_ on his hand! Who keeps the stolen property on them? He might as well have worn a sign saying ‘please send me back to jail’.”

“I know I would’ve found it, but _you_ were there to take that from me. Surprise, surprise.”

Ophelia narrowed her eyes at him.

“Jeez, and you call _me_ a crybaby.” She fell back into the bed and looked up at the ceiling. “You think he’s got the Crown of Fire with him too? Maybe he has it locked somewhere in the building, like a storage room or something.”

“I doubt it. If he had both of them, he would’ve used them to conquer the world by now. Unless he’s too dumb to know what they are, which is highly unlikely.”

“Well, whatever he’s got, we’ll find it.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. “Do you want to call your mom, or should I?”

He looked at her, trying to remember if he heard her say anything more ridiculous than now, and had very little luck.

“What? Are you crazy or just really dumb?”

“Dude, this is a big deal case. We have to go by the book now that we’ve found the Ring. You haven’t had the Observants on your back before, trust me, it’s not fun.”

“I don’t care about the Observants, they would be on your case instead of mine anyway, how about dealing with my mom?”

“Your mom is going to be the one dealing with the Observants if one of us messes up, so we need to call her up now and fill her in on everything. As a person who’s been around both sides of the law, I know what I’m doing.”

“You _think_ you know, there’s a difference.”

Ophelia propped herself up from the bed to look at him.

“Oh, and you think you do? What with your vast experience fighting crime? You can’t just waltz in there and take the ring off his finger. He knows everything there is about ghosts, he’s controlled ghosts, imagine what he could do to a human.”

“He’s like a hundred years old, and as far as we know he doesn’t have any ghosts to help him. All he has that keeps us from that ring is his hand and his security system, which I can crack like that.” He snapped his fingers.

Ophelia narrowed her eyes at him.

“Age means nothing. Vlad Masters is a good ten years older than Freakshow, and we all know he doesn’t need any help from ghosts to get the job done. If you go in there and try to steal that ring from him, the police won’t be seeing you as a hero. They will be seeing you as a juvenile delinquent who broke into a museum to rob a ‘defenseless feeble old man’. And that won’t be cleared out until your parents get called in, and then we’ll all get in trouble.”

 Francis was starting to become fed up with her. Who was she to tell him what to do?

She was the irresponsible one. She was the one who got in trouble and everyone had to save. Now all of a sudden she was the one in charge of _his_ mission?

Francis was about to snap back at her when he got an idea.

“Alright, before we hit an impasse I’d like to make a deal. I won’t leave this room, you don’t make any calls, in the morning you can call the SWAT team for all I care as long as I get into that museum and search the place. We got a deal?”

Ophelia crossed her arms. Her eyes flashing like a police strobe. He knew this was her attempt at looking intimidating, but it only made her look like a suspicious five-year-old.

“And you’ll hold up your end?”

“I swear on my mother’s grave.”

“Your mother’s alive.”

“Yeah, I mean her future grave.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“Do we have a deal or not!”

Ophelia held her hands up in surrender.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve got a deal.” As she shook his hand to seal the deal, she added, “Just don’t leave this room until both of us wake up in the morning.”

“Fine, but I’m taking your phone as insurance.”

He held out his hand for the phone. Ophelia rolled her eyes as she slapped her phone into his hand so hard it actually hurt. He wasn’t sure if she did it intentionally or if she didn’t realize her own strength. He thought of that as he went over to lock the phone in the safe in the hotel room’s closet. He could tell she was standing behind him at the closet door.

“Is that some kind of gesture or did you forget I’ve got my powers back?”

He smiled as he pulled a device out of his pocket.

“It must suck not having a technology mogul for a dad. You don’t get all the anti-ghost devices before they come out in the market.”

He struck the device to the keypad of the safe. He pushed a button and the device came on. It blinked a red light before it started to emit sparks. The sparks began to swallow the safe, making it glow with green electrical currents. Once the whole safe was glowing, it gave one bright flash before the light disappeared altogether.

“What just happened?” Ophelia asked.

Francis smiled and pointed to the device.

“This device just created a ghost shield around the safe. Now the only way anyone can get into the safe is if they enter the code I just put in.”

Ophelia went around him and kneeled over to look at the safe. She stretched out her fingers to touch it, and was buffered by sparks that came in a flash almost too quick to see. They came in contact with her skin with a small snapping sound. Ophelia pulled her hand away in a flinch.

“Ow!”

“Careful, don’t touch that.” Francis drawled out in a dull tone that didn’t quite go with the smile on his face.

* * *

Francis felt like he was going to have to wait the whole night until Ophelia finally got to sleep. It was as if she was playing some kind of game with him, seeing who could stay up the longest. But eventually, she was on the couch, wrapped in a blanket she materialized for herself when Francis refused to share or even ask housekeeping for another, and out like a light. The moment he was sure she was asleep, he grabbed his equipment and was heading out the door as quietly as possible. He wasn’t at all surprised at how easy it was to fool her, she was never as bright as him despite her thinking so. He laughed to himself thinking at how he was going to tell the story: Necrophelia falls asleep on the job, with her phone locked in a hotel safe that she can’t even touched, as he finds the Relics of the Ghost King and saves the world from the infinite wrath of Pariah Dark. He almost pitied his god-sister thinking of how much trouble she was going to get into before reminding himself that she deserved it.

As soon as he got to the museum, he opened a program on his tablet to scan and hack the security. With no effort, he disarmed the systems, leaving only the lock on the front door to keep him out. He went into his bag and took out a cable with a device on the end of it. He plugged the cable into his tablet and stuck his device into the lock on the door. With a few taps on the screen, the device clicked, telling him it was shaped itself like the key that fitted the lock. He smiled as he turned the device like the key it was posing as. The door unlocked, opening itself by just a crack.

“Piece of cake.” He whispered to himself.

He took the device out of the door and unplugged it from his tablet. Once everything was put away, he slung his bag over his shoulder and pushed the door the rest of the way open.

“You idiot!”

Francis was so startled he fell to the ground. Ophelia stood over him from the other side of the door, arms crossed and eyes flashing with anger.

“The heck, Necro,” said Francis once his heart started up again, “You trying to turn me into one of your ghost friends?”

“What do you think you are doing? I thought we had a deal.”

“Well, obviously I lied.” He pulled himself up from the ground and dusted himself off. “Hey, how did you get in there anyway? He had a ghost shield up.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes.

“His ghost shield is garbage. It only covers the building in a dome, not a full sphere. Any non-corporeal schmuck can get in if they phase up through the ground. But that’s not the point here. I can’t believe you made a fake deal just so you can sneak out as soon as I fell asleep, even worse you insult my intelligence thinking that I would _fall_ for it.”

“Yeah, yeah, poor you, now if you’re done screaming at me we might as well go in and search the place.”

With little room for feedback, Francis walked around her and entered the building. He heard her groan before shutting the door.

“Fine, but when we get asked what happened, don’t tell them I didn’t try to stop you.”

“Whatever. Hey, make yourself useful and walk about two paces in front of me, I don’t want to waste the batteries in my flashlight.”

“Screw you!”

Francis rolled his eyes.

“Fine, be no help.”

He walked through the rooms, shining his flashlight on things here and there to make sure nothing has changed since they were there earlier that day. He looked down at his tablet.

“According to these blueprints, the door to the basement should be in the next room.”

“Blueprints? Where’d you get the blueprints to this place?”

“City Hall public database. You know, you can obtain very useful things legally nowadays.”

“Says the guys who just broke into the building to steal a priceless artifact.”

Francis ignored her and continued his path. When he came into the next room, he had a hard time finding the door leading to the basement. He spotted a wall covered by a red velvet curtain and figured the door must be hidden behind there. As he walked over, he looked back to see if Ophelia was still following him. She entered the room uneasily, looking around the room with suspicion.

“I don’t remember these markings being here before.” She said, not quite directing her statement to anyone in particular.

Sounds like Necro’s wussing out again.

Francis turned back to the velvet curtain, not even bothering to look back to see what she was talking about. He pulled it back and smiled at finding a door on the other side.

“Found the door,” he announced. When the tried to open it he followed with: “And it’s locked.”

He went into his bag to pull out his tablet and lock-picking device.

“Francis” Ophelia said warily. Francis ignored her.

“Standard lock, shouldn’t take me too long.”

“Francis”

“You would think with all this valuable, possibly illegal stuff laying around he would’ve gone with something a little more advanced than a locked door.”

“Francis…” 

Without warning, something grabbed him by the upper arms and pulled him into the air, causing him to drop all his stuff on the ground. He looked up and found himself in the claws of a giant bat, glowing green and flat as paper. He got turned around to see the rest of the room infested with two-dimensional creatures like the bat. Ophelia was on the ground, entangled in the grasp of a snake.

“I don’t think he even needed the locks.”

* * *

They were tossed to the ground carelessly. As soon as they gathered their bearings, both of them looked around to get a clue as to where they were teleported. Wherever they were it was dark. The only source of light was a single lamp above their heads that shined on them like a spotlight. Standing in front of them was a figure hidden under a red cloak. The figure pulled back the hood to reveal their face. Francis immediately recognized her from the photo attached to her file on the data-base. Lydia opened her cloak to reveal her scarcely covered body. Two shapes flew up from behind them and attached themselves to the blank spaces on her skin. She smiled down at them, making Francis think of how a spider would look when seeing the flies she trapped in her web. It didn’t make him feel very good about his well-being.

From the shadows came Showenhower, looking less like a harmless old man with the tweed suit gone. He looked down at them, leaning against his cane with a certain authority and showmanship that only a ringmaster can pull off.

“Did you two actually think you could fool me so easily?” he asked. “I knew who you were before you even walked into my doors.”

“The tattoos you left in Vald’s house,” said Ophelia, “You saw us through them. You knew we would go looking for you once we found out they belonged to your lackey.”

“I don’t even need that to know who you are.” He used his cane to lift Ophelia’s chin, revealing her face beneath the black rat’s nest. “You look just like your parents when they were your age, though you lack all of their best features.”

Francis gave a snort to that remark. Ophelia glared over to him with those angry eyes of hers.  Freakshow didn’t seem to notice and dropped the cane back at his feet.

“If it wasn’t for your parents, both of yours’ parents,” he said, casting a glare in Francis’ direction. “I wouldn’t have been in prison for twenty years. And now you two are here to make sure I stay behind bars for the rest of my life.”

“If you don’t want to go to prison, then maybe you shouldn’t have stolen the Ring of Rage.” Francis said, annoyed. He had heard that junk far too many times at Mom’s work.

“Stolen? I found it. If I hadn’t taken it, who knows what would’ve happened.”

He held up his hand to admire the ring on his finger, “Besides, it is utterly useless without the Crown of Fire. Useless, but certainly not worthless.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t ‘find’ the Crown of Fire along with it.” Said Ophelia.

“No, sadly not. But I suppose it’s for the better, all that power in one place could be fatal.”

“We know, that’s why we came to get the Ring: so it can be somewhere safe. If the Ghost King finds out the Ring is here, nothing is going to stop him from getting to it. He’ll level the whole state if he has to. Look, there aren’t any charges and we’re not planning on pressing any. If you just give us the Ring, we’ll just go home and leave you and Lydia alone. No one will come to take you to jail, I promise.”

Freakshow smiled at her with a raised eyebrow.

“How much of a fool do you take me for to believe I would fall for this ruse? We both know how the Bureau works, let alone the Observants. Once they know I have something to do with this,” he showed the Ring to them, “They’ll make any excuse to throw me and Lydia away for good. And what says I would _want_ to return the Ring, anyhow? This is the most powerful artifact in my collection. Worth more than all the gold in the world, if not the world itself.”

He rested his hand on top of his cane, his eyes going from Francis to Ophelia and back again.

“Now that you know that I am in possession of the Ring of Rage, I can’t let you go home. The only question now is what to do with you two?”

He sauntered around them in what Francis would’ve imagined was predatory if not for Freakshow’s lightheartedness. His cane swinging playfully in his hand to and fro, somehow managing not to hit either of them.

“Oh, I have been picturing this day for years. The day I seek my revenge on the meddlesome trio who foiled my plans. As much as I would want them to be here, you two are a close second.” He slid the cane up his hand and tapped the top to his mouth as he pondered. “So many ideas come to mind, and with only two opportunities to use them. What to do?”

The very real threat on his life hit Francis slowly. With every ungodly playful step the old man took, the deeper into his heart his impending death struck. He looked over to Ophelia. How could she be so calm about this! He remembered Mom talking about being in situations of near death like this, and the lessons she would give him with those stories. One of them was not to panic, panicking made everything worse. Another was don’t let them see you’re afraid, when they see you’re scared they know they’re winning. A third: get clever.

And so he took a deep but quiet breath to calm down, put on an indifferent face, and started to think of something fast.

“You’re not really planning on killing us, are you?” he said, trying to mimic the tone he gave Ophelia when she said something stupid.

There was a small hint of confusion in Freakshow’s expression, barely visible through the overconfidence.

“I don’t see a reason why I shouldn’t.”

“I can think of one. In fact, I can think of a hundred million.”

A raised eyebrow told Francis that he got his attention. He could see that Ophelia knew what he was doing. She wasn’t smiling, but he knew she was impressed.

“What are you getting at?” Freakshow asked, his tone telling Francis that he was caught off guard.

“My father is Tucker Foley. You don’t even have to know him as well as you claim to know about FoleTech and that my dad’s got a lot of money. Enough money to make a very generous ransom for his one and only son. Think of it: whatever amount you’ve made in your life my dad can double.”

Freakshow looked off, making the beyond clichéd expression of someone pondering. It was clear to Francis that he was peaking his interest.

“I mean, yeah, I’m probably not worth as much as that ring of yours, but how are you going to sell it? Now that Pariah’s loose, no one’s going to buy the Ring of Rage. That thing is an instant death sentence to anyone who possesses it. At least with me you know there’s a buyer, and one who’s good for it. So yeah, you can kill me, but you’ll be blowing the biggest opportunity at fortune that you’ll ever get.”

That sold it. Francis could practically see the dollar signs in his eyes. Freakshow gave him a very pleased smile that was somehow eerily sinister to Francis.

“Congratulations, you just bought yourself some time. When I see an actual ransom, you will have bought your life. But if your father doesn’t meet my demands, you will be returned to him piece by tiny piece.”

Francis was overjoyed with relief and splashed by a wave of fear, both of which he did well not to show. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ophelia roll her eyes. There was a hint of disgust he saw there, but he didn’t care. He just gave himself a better chance at survival than she has.

Freakshow turned over to Ophelia, a look of contempt added with his smile.

“And what about you, girl? Last time I checked, the Manson fortune is still quite vast like your friend’s. And then there’s Fenton Works-“

“I have been through a lot worse than anything your senile mind can ever hope to fathom and not once did I have to buy my life. If I ever have to resort to that, it most certainly won’t be for the likes of you.”

There was a moment of indifference that soon turned into an amused smirk.

“How noble of you. I suppose it would have been a futile effort, anyhow. Your parents together have caused me too much grief to pass up any chance at revenge.” He grabbed her by the hair so they could see each other. “Then there’s your own merit to consider. You are the first ghost-human hybrid to ever be born. You are technically the first of your species and, if what I’ve heard is true, you shall be the last. After you, there won’t be anymore. No one can put a price to that, not even me. So now back to my original question: what shall I do with you?” 

Somehow, Freakshow looked even more sinister than before, thinking about all the different ways he could hurt Ophelia.

“I could lock you away, just like your parents had me locked away. You’ll be stuffed into a tiny, tiny box, tinier than a coffin, and hidden in some dark place where no one will find you. The only life around will be the spiders spinning their webs and crawling all around you, all over you; and the mice, scurrying , sniffing around, only to run away at the sound of your screams…”

Freakshow said all this with a disturbing amount of enthusiasm, with a look in his eye that chilled Francis’ blood. But then, in a flash, Freakshow’s composed himself into something more detached, if not bored. He made a small hand wave.

“No, that will not do. It has the finesse, but not the flare. What’s the point in revenge if I won’t be able to see you suffer?”

He went back to circling them. It became more and more apparent that he didn’t truly need the cane to walk, as he now held is under his arm as he strode around them.

“Perhaps I should make you part of my collection,” he mused, that enthusiasm starting to creep back into his voice, “Yes, yes, that will do. I know quite a few remedies that will freeze you like stone. I’ll keep you behind glass. Everyone will see you as a statue, some wax figure made in your likeness. But little do they know it’s you, the real, flesh, blood and ectoplasm you, standing behind the glass. And you just stand there, able to see them stare at you, hear them talk to each other as if you’re not there. The outside world will be right in front of you, but you simply cannot reach out and touch it.”

He knelt beside Ophelia and touched the side of her face. He seemed to be envisioning her as a statue.

“However, you haven’t done anything yourself to earn that of me. Perhaps I should just kill you and have you stuffed.”

“Ew, gross!” Ophelia cried.

“But it is kinder than my other options, you have to admit. But then again, I guess that all depends on which method I choose to kill you with.”

“If your girlfriend’s going to do the killing, I suggest a clean death.” Francis tossed in.

Ophelia’s eyes widened and flashed a pale green. Freakshow turned to him.

“Why is that?”

Francis saw out of the corner of his eyes Ophelia shaking her head and mouthing the word “no” over and over.

“Her blood is toxic to ghosts.” He said.

Freakshow was confused for a moment, but then he seemed to understand what Francis meant and that dollar sign look came back.

“Of course, how could I have forgotten? Briar Rose and her Curse, the anomaly that has baffled the medical world more than the half-ghost physiology itself. In that blood houses the rarest plant species found outside the Amazon. Some people would pay generously to get their hands on such a flower, and that’s excluding its properties.”

He took Ophelia by the binding around her wrists and pulled her arms straight in front of her. He rolled up her sleeve just above the elbow. Possibly the one feature that disturbed Francis the most was her pale white skin. Against her dark hair, she looked sickly, and on some days she looked like a corpse. Especially how the deep blue veins Freakshow was inspecting popped against the translucent underside of her arm.

“Yes, yes, there’s liquid gold running through these veins, and I’ll take every drop of it for what it’s worth. Funny, I had always imagined your family paying their debt to me in blood, but never quite this literal.”

Ophelia tried to pull away, which was nothing more than a toy dog pulling at her leash. Freakshow watched with amusement before letting her go. She fell flat on her back with a loud “Oof!”. Her bound feet up in the air like a dead rat. Francis couldn’t help but laugh as she tried to pull herself back up with her hands and feet tied. When she finally got up to a sitting position, she glared at Freakshow with blindingly bright eyes.

“You manhandle me one more time old man, and I swear, I’ll beat you with your own cane!”

Freakshow smiled at her, completely unimpressed.

“Not only do you look like your mother, but you’ve got a mouth like her too. It will almost be as if I’m inflicting all of this misery on her.”

“Or more like it will be as if she’s the one smacking the dentures out of your face instead of me.”

“Silence, you little brat!”

“Ooh, little brat, how bland. You think an old circus guy like yourself would come up with something more colorful.”

Francis looked at her absolutely stunned. Did she _want_ him to kill her?

Freakshow sneered at her. He raised his cane over his head, ready to strike the ghost girl down.

“I said silence!”

Freakshow brought the cane down with enough force that Francis was certain would crack Ophelia’s head open. As much as he wanted to, Francis could not look away. He was paralyzed with fear, quietly hoping that he wasn’t about to watch his god sister die.

As soon as the cane came into contact with her head, she evaporated into a cloud of green mist. The top of the cane hit the ground with a _clang._ Freakshow looked at the empty space dumbstruck. Francis shared that same expression, but only for a moment.

“What in the world?” Freakshow said, surprised.

In that moment, Freakshow’s cane yanked itself out of his hand. It floated there for a few seconds, but then it swung and hit him at his side. Before the old man hit the ground, Lydia was charging at where the cane was floating. Before she was halfway there, a ghost ray shot her and knocked her back.

While those two were astonished, Francis was everything thing but. He glared over to the floating cane, bored and irritated.

“Come on, cut the crud,” He told the cane.

The cane giggled. Out of nowhere, Ophelia appeared. She rested the cane on her shoulder and had her foot over old ringmaster.

“They always forget duplication.” Ophelia mused.

“How long have I been talking to your copy?” Francis asked.  
  
“Since you snuck out of the hotel. I knew that you would get the both of us in trouble so I came up with a backup plan, or rather a backup me.”

“So you put off the rescue just to see me put a price on my life?”

“No. I came here all the way from the hotel, it took a while to track us after Lydia teleported us. I only got here around the time you suggested he sell my blood.”

“I didn't suggest anything, I was just telling him your blood can hurt ghosts. If anything, I was saving your life.”

“By selling the rest of me to the black market.”

“Gee, I’m so sorry you’ve got ‘liquid gold’ running through your veins. Next time I create the universe I’ll make sure you’re worth less than dirt. Now, if you stop being selfish enough to untie me-“

“Selfish? You’re calling _me selfish_? The one who followed you back to the museum so you won’t get yourself killed, the one who just saved your butt, that’s who you’re calling selfish?”

“Yeah, and that doesn’t make you look any better to the folks at all.”

“Listen you,-“

A ghost ray missed her by an inch. Ophelia shot back at the tattooed ghost but this time the blast encased her in a binding made of ecto-energy. Ophelia made sure to do the same to Freakshow before returning to Francis.

“Listen you, ever since we got here you have done nothing but blame me for every little problem you can make up. I don’t care about recognition, you can go ahead and say you found the Ring, I won’t stop you. All I care about is getting the Ring somewhere safe where His Majesty won’t get to it, and do so with as little trouble as possible. I don’t know what I did to you to make you hate me so much, and I don’t know if an apology will be enough for you, but if you’re going to hate me do it in a way that won’t get anyone hurt. This isn’t a game, Francis, people get hurt. If it wasn’t for me, you would be face down in a ditch somewhere. Do you really want that? Do you really want your parents to find you like that? For Marti to be an only child? If you keep up these petty attempts to show me up, that will happen to you.”

Ophelia knelt down to where Freakshow was. Francis assumed that the blow she gave him must have knocked him out somehow. She grabbed one of his death white hands and took the Ring of Rage from off his finger.  
  
“I’ll take that.” Said Ophelia.

She dropped Freakshow’s hand and started heading towards an exit, tossed the Ring up in the air like a coin.  
  
“You’re not going to leave me here.” Francis told her, trying to hide the nervousness that was rising with every step Ophelia took away from him.

Ophelia stopped and looked at him from over her shoulder.  
  
“You’re clever, you can figure your way out. Besides, I might screw something up trying.”

With that she walked off, her ethereal glow keeping her from being swallowed by the shadows of the dark room. It then dawned on Francis that she wasn’t going to turn around.

“Necro?”  
  
He tried to get up, only to be reminded that his feet were tied together.

“Necro, this is not funny, please get me out of here.”

He heard the door creak open all the way from the end of the room, the slam echoed across the vast empty space. Francis panicked, trying a second time to get on his feet and failing yet again. He started to pry the binding on his wrist with his feet, and seeing very little results doing so.   
  
“Real mature, Fenton, now come back and get me out of this!”

Right when he thought he had gotten it loose, his feet slipped off and he was flung back flat on the ground from the force.  
  
“Fenton!”

Just when he thought he was stranded, he heard the creak of the door opening. A wave of relief came over him. At least Necro wasn’t so much of a selfish brat not to leave him in a room with two dangerous criminals. The rest of the lights came on, revealing the room to be a warehouse in not too bad a shape. With this new light Francis saw that it wasn’t Ophelia who was at the door. It may have been too far away to get a good look at a face, but he knew a police officer when he saw one, let alone a whole troupe of them.

* * *

Police were taking Lydia into custody while the unconscious Mr. Showenhower was being carried off by an ambulance. Apparently he has two broken ribs and may possibly be suffering a concussion. Served him right. Francis only wished he didn't have Necrophelia to thank for that.

Right now, Francis was sitting in the back of an ambulance truck. He had just given the police his statement, trying his best to hide those little details that would get him in trouble. The paramedics had given him a blanket for the possible shock he may have experienced while being kidnapped by an aged criminal and his dangerous ghostly lackey, but he didn’t need it. Nothing about crime scenes was new to him, or even that much of a stress.  He just calmly watched as the crime scene ran its course, as he had seen it do all through his childhood.   
  
“Having fun yet?”

He barely turned his head to see Ophelia sit next to him. He was too used to her appearing out of nowhere to be startled as other people would.

“Why are you wearing that blanket? You can’t be in shock.”  
  
“No, but I am cold.”

“How did you call the police? Your phone was in the safe.”

“You know, before there were cell phones, there was this thing called a land line. Most hotels still have them. But thank you for reminding me, we still need to go back to get our phones.”

“Your phone, I took mine when I snuck out.”

“Of course you did.”

Francis rested his head on his hand and returned his gaze to the happenings around him.

“So, I guess you told them everything.”

“I only told them that I woke up in the middle of the night and found you were gone, and then I wound up captured by Freakshow. Whether you snuck out and I followed you to the museum or if he snatched the both of us is for them to figure out.”

Francis looked back at her, surprised.

“You covered for me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, I covered for both of us. Technically, we both broke into the museum so I would be incriminating myself as well as you.”

“That sounds more like you.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes and pulled the blanket tightly around herself.

“Most people would say ‘thank you’, you know, for saving they’re life.”

Francis said nothing, pretending that he was in a beautiful universe where she didn’t exist. Ophelia apparently didn’t catch on and continued.

“Other people would say something like, I don’t know, ‘sorry for being a butt’?”

Francis still said nothing. Now he was looking through his phone. He heard Ophelia sigh.

“Nothing?”

He found he had ten missed calls from Mom, five from Dad. They both left voicemails for each called, but he could tell from the text messages what the voicemails said.

“Wow, even my _dad_ is ticked,” Francis said aloud, breaking the silent treatment. “I’m going to have a hard time explaining this to my folks.”

He heard Ophelia cringing, which worried him greatly. He turned over to her with a raised eyebrow.

“What?”

“Yeah, um, about that. I’m just gonna start off and say that I didn’t mean for it at all, I only called the locals. I’m really sorry.”

“FRANCIS DAMON FOLEY!!”

His heart stopped, the blood frozen solid.

Not too far away from where they were, his mother was stepping out of a portal. The creator of the portal, Ghost Zone’s newest ex-warden, was stumbling out after her. It looked as though she had been trying to calm down his mother for a while, and had failed in the attempt.

His mother walked up to him with a look in her eyes that he only saw directed to her perps, and he had been fortunate up to this point never to have never seen it at him.

"What made you think it was a good idea to run off without telling me? And straight into a known criminal's establishment?"

It took Francis a while to remember to breathe and form the best words for his defense.

"But Mom, he stole the Ring of Rage. I found evidence putting him in Masters house, I had to go and see if he had it."

"No, you didn't. You had to tell me anything you found so I can take care of it. You just admitted to withholding evidence from a police officer, Francis, that's a serious crime."

"But Ophelia does this stuff all the time-"

"Ophelia is bound by a government contract, you are not. And speaking of," Mom turned his attention to Ophelia. She just about disappeared on the spot once Mom’s eyes rested on her. "Do your parents know you're here?"

"Um...not exactly, no." She said in a hushed voice.

"So the two of you thought you can just sneak off to another time zone without telling anyone-"

"Actually Val," Dani intervened, "I knew where they were. Ophelia told me about what she and Francis had found and I sent them out to check if their suspicions were true. I had Ophelia check in with me anytime something developed, and I was ready to come and rescue them in case anything happened. They weren't in any real danger."

Mom looked at all of them skeptically. Francis was certain she wasn't going to buy that.

"Is that what you're going to tell the Observants when they ask you what happened?"

"Yes," Dani replied, "What, you got a better one?"

Mom smiled.

"No, it works, so long as everyone gets their story straight."

She took a moment to calm herself down.

“Well, at least you guys are okay. Next time, if you’re going to go off and play detective, please tell me. I don’t care whether or not you can handle it, I need to know where you are. If I have to keep worrying about you like this you’ll drive me into an early grave.”

“Yes, Mom”

 Mom looked from him to Ophelia to Dani.  
  
“So, which one of you has the Ring?”

Ophelia dug through her coat pocket and pull out the Ring of Rage. Mom took it from the palm of her hands and examined it.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this thing.” She mused to herself. She took her ghost container from her belt and stashed the Ring inside. For safe-keeping, Francis assumed.

“You’re gonna tell me what really happened here when we get home,” she said for Francis, “And I’ll decide the exact terms of your punishment then. Whatever I come up with, you’ll be staying with me the next month. You’re not going to get away with the fun parent.”

“What about Marti?”  
  
“She’s staying with him. You’re getting my full attention.”  
  
She looked over to Dani and Ophelia.  
  
“As for you two, you’re going to tell your parents everything.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Ophelia.  
  
“Good, I’ll let them deal with you. Honestly, girl, you got out of your grounding for less than a day and you pulled this stunt? It’s some miracle that Danny and Sam have kept you alive this long.”

“Can we talk about this back home?” Ophelia said, shivering despite the thick wool coat and blanket wrapped around her, “It’s freezing out here.”  
  
Francis rolled his eyes at her.  
  
Crybaby.


	23. Night at the Ouija Board

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen and Ophelia go on their first date.

 Finally, after all those weeks, Owen was free. And, once his art supplies were safely returned to him from the shed in the backyard, he could think of no better way to celebrate his freedom than to head to the park with a box of street chalk. His favorite place in the park was an intersection in the concrete paths, which had a large smooth surface and fewer people walking by to mess up his drawings.

It was not too soon into his project that he had gotten himself completely covered in chalk dust. Oh, how he missed the look and feel of being coated in a spectrum of colors. Owen thought he would never see the day where he would truly need a shower.

Halfway through the intersection, he heard the sound of skating wheels. He thought nothing of it. This was a park after all. But, then the wheels got closer without any audible sign of slowing down. He turned around just in time to see the skater crash into him. Or rather, crash _through_ him.

He grew up around ghosts for years, though he never really knew any of them well until the Fentons moved in next door.  He could never get over the feeling of someone going right though him. It was like a gust of wind was being blown at you, except the wind was solid matter, and it wasn’t exactly blowing _at_ you as much as….Owen never had the right words to put to the feeling of intangibility.

He turned back to see the ghostly skater, hoping in vain that they weren’t smudging his drawing. He found the skater wasn’t as ghostly as he originally thought. Just half.

She didn’t brake soon enough and tumbled over as soon as she phased through Owen, landing smack dab in the center of his now ruined half-finished drawing. She lifted her head and pulled her lucky goggles from her eyes. In those big green eyes, he could see her cheeriness at seeing him and her realization of what she had done and accordingly gearing up for an apology storm.

“Omigosh! I’m so sorry! I should’ve looked where I was going. I’m just glad I phased in time. Oh, but now your thing is ruined-“

“Phé, it’s alright, really. I’m not hurt”

“But your drawing…”

“I’ll draw it over again. It wasn’t exactly a Picasso on chalk. Are you okay? That looked like a pretty bad spill.”  
  
“Dude, have you looked at me lately?” Ophelia spread her arms so he would get a good look at her. She was wearing tight jeans that were thicker than her legs, meaning there were probably layers underneath. Her hands were covered with purple winter gloves and her face was half buried in a thick yet soft-looking scarf knotted in various colors. Everything else was concealed in an eggplant purple wool coat that was obviously meant for someone twice her size. He imagined her stealing it from her mother’s closet. All this was coated in various colors of chalk dust.

 “I might as well be wearing bubble-wrap with the amount of layers on me.”

“Bubble-wrap in a package from the Crayola factory.” Owen said with a laugh.

Ophelia looked down, just noticing the chalk on her.

“Of course this happens when I’m wearing my mom’s coat. No biggie."

Ophelia turned intangible. The dust fluttered to the ground, having no physical body to cling to. The way they fell from her inspired a new piece. He saved the image in his mind for him to draw out when he got home tonight.

“You’re a wonder, you know that?” Owen said, admirably.

“A wonder? That’s not usually on the list of words used to describe me.”

Owen knew better than to ask what those words are.

Ophelia rolled to his side.

“So, what was the Great Artist Dodgson working on before I messed it up?”

Owen blushed when she called him a great artist. He didn’t even think of himself as an artist. Just a guy who played around with pencils and paint and chalk. He went to art class, that didn’t make him an artist.

“It’s nothing,” he said, “I just wanted to draw something and this came out.”

“What came out looks like the Ghost Zone.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

“This is really good.”

“You say that about all my stuff.”

“That’s because they’re all really good. Did you copy this off a map or something?”  
  
“No, not really. Like I said, I just felt like drawing and this happened.”

“Oh shut up, this is amazing for someone who hasn’t been in the Ghost Zone.”

“I have”  
  
“When?”

“What about when I helped you move Trix over to the theatre?”  
  
“That barely counts, you were in realms, little pocket dimensions. That’s nothing compared to the whole cosmos of the dead.”

“’Cosmos of the dead’?”  
  
“Hey, I’m not a poet. But seriously, the Ghost Zone is….wow.”

Owen noticed a strain in her voice. He looked at her. There was a smile on her face, but something in her eyes didn’t match.

“You miss it, don’t you?”

Ophelia smirked.

“I guess I’m a little homesick.”

“You consider it your home?”

“I have a realm there, don’t I? At least, I used to…”

Ophelia sat down on the pavement, staring at the smeared half-drawn chalk-painting of her second home.

“We moved around a lot, my family and I, we went to both sides of the country twice hoping to find somewhere safe. But the Ghost Zone, our realm, that was a static place. No matter where we went, that was still there. I went out to the same door, see the same place, same people. No one could take that away from me, not even Vlad. But then Pariah got out, and everyone was driven out of their home. And now, thanks to me, my realm is destroyed…”

Ophelia looked up at him, as if she just remembered he was there. Nervous, embarrassed, Ophelia looked away again, fading until he could barely see her.

“I shouldn’t be dumping this stuff on you, I’m ruining your day.”

Owen knelt down to her eye level.

“Phé, I’m your boyfriend now, we should be able to share things like this with each other. Everyone needs someone to talk to, right?”

Ophelia became a little more solid.

“I guess…still, it’s a lot to unload on you. I mean, we haven’t even gone out on a date yet.”

Owen shrugged.   
  
“We can fix that, how does Saturday sound to you?”

Ophelia looked at him, eyes wide and flashing.

“ _This Saturday?_ ”

“Yeah, why not? None of us are grounded anymore and we’ve waited long enough. Heck, Abi’s been through ten dates while we’ve been waiting for our one.”

Ophelia laughed a little at that. She brushed back the hair from her face somewhat nervously.

“I guess we _have_ waited long enough. But where should we go?”

“Don’t worry about that. Come Saturday, you’re gonna be glad you can fly because I’m going to sweep you off your feet.”

Ophelia giggled.

“You’re so dorky.”

“And you’re the girl who dates dorky boys.”

Ophelia tried to get back on her feet, but the rollerblades gave her some difficulty. Owen took her hands and helped her back on her feet. Neither of them let go of each other. His cheeks felt warm when he noticed how close their faces were, Ophelia looked a little flushed too.

“I better go,” Ophelia said, “After last week my parents have been a little….you know.”

“I…can…guess” Owen said, certain that he understood only half of what she meant.

Ophelia giggled. The cool fog of her breath blew into his face like a smoke. He liked it, it made him think of one of those commercials where people would pop a mint in their mouth and get ice breath. They always made him wonder what it would be like to kiss a mouth like that…

“Well, I’ll see you later.” Ophelia said in a voice so low that he probably wouldn’t have heard her if he wasn’t so close to her.

“Yeah,” he said in the same low voice, “I’ll see you at school.”

“Or Saturday.”

“Or Saturday.”

He was never the kind of boy to make a move, at least that wasn’t how he saw himself, but there he was leaning in closer. Ophelia looked nervous, which he would worry about later. But right now, it felt too right to worry about. He closed his eyes…

Then he felt a peck on his cheek.

“’Kay, bye.”

He hands were empty. Owen opened his eyes and she had disappeared.

Literally.

It wasn’t long for Owen to come out of his confused daze and the past five minutes just sank in.

“My god, what have I done?”

* * *

"You're finally going out on a date?"

Mick had invited Owen and Wal to his place to play video games. He said it was in celebration of Owen's release, which it sort of was. Though they weren't so happy that Owen was free so much as they missed wiping the floor with the worst player in their group.

"Yeah, this Saturday." Owen explained. "I wasn't even thinking, the words just kind of...puked out."

"Yeah, might not be a good idea to use the word 'puke' or your date." Wal told him.

"Where are you planning on taking her?" Mick asked.

"I have no idea."

Mick and Wal paused the game and gave him a look.

"What do you mean you have no idea?"

"I mean I have not one single idea what to do."

"How do you not know?" Mick said,  "You've had weeks to figure it out."

"Yeah, and you've been saving up like mad." Wal said, "You must have some idea."

"I only knew that whatever we were going to do would probably be expensive. I never got around to what I was going to spend all that money on."

“I’m guessing the standard ‘dinner and a movie’ date never came to mind.” Said Mick.

“I did, and then I remembered that it’s been done to death. And besides, there’s nothing good on.”

“What are you talking about? It’s the premiere weekend of the _Crash Nebula_ remake.”  
  
“I thought it was the second adaptation of the show?” said Wal

“No, no, it’s the remake of the first movie special.”  
  
“Wow, really? It’s out already? Please tell me you got tickets.”  
  
“When haven’t I gotten the tickets?”

“Guys?” Owen interjected, “What about me?”

“I bet I can get you an extra ticket if you want to come.”  
  
“No! My date! What am I going to do about my date!”

“Lighten up, Owen,” Wal told him, “it’s just the first date. You’re not supposed to make a big show about it, it’s just you and her getting to know each other.”

“But we already _do_ know each other. Right now, I’m in relationship limbo. This date may very well decide if I’m good boyfriend material for her or if I’m going back to being one of her guy friends.”

“I’m telling you, you’re making a bigger deal about it than it really is. I’ve been on enough dates to know that all you need is a common ground where you can talk and learn about each other.”

“Yeah, but none of those dates were with _girls_ ,” Mick said, “They’ve got different brains than us, they want different things.”

Wal rolled his eyes.

“No wonder girls think we’re the dumb gender. Well, Owen, think about this: What do you know about Ophelia? What does she like? What is it that you like about her? There’s bound to be something there you can make a date out of.”

Owen was quiet. What did he know about Ophelia? Not much, but yet that’s still a great deal more than the rest of the school. She liked to take pictures, and he liked to draw, meaning they both liked art. But then he remembered her mentioning once that she was not welcomed at the Fredrick Loren Museum of Art for tampering with the exhibits (“I was only touching a few paintings” she told him), so that was off the table. She rollerbladed to school every morning with Em, But he couldn’t do any kind of skating. He narrowly avoided a trip to the hospital when he was learning how to ride a bike.

Just when he thought he had run out of options, he remembered what Ophelia had told him earlier that day.  
  
“She’s homesick.” He said aloud.  
  
“Homesick?” asked Mick, confused.

“For the Ghost Zone, she said it was like a second home to her. Or was it her first?”  
  
“So what are you suggesting?” asked Wal, “You two go on a romantic tour through a recently banned dimension you've never been to and hope you don’t run into King Kill On Sight?”

“No, of course not. I don’t need to learn that lesson again.”

“Then what?”

“You know how when all the ghost left GZ some of them stayed in that unused part of Elmerton? I’m thinking, maybe… we should go there.”

They gave him a look that made him think that weren’t too keen on the idea. A look of someone who had just heard the dumbest thing he ever heard in his life (and coming from Mick, that’s saying something).

“You want to go to Dead Man’s Ghetto for your first date?” said Wal  
  
“Since when have people been calling it ‘Dead Man’s Ghetto’?” asked Owen

“Since the dead people moved in, duh?” said Mick

“Either way, it sounds good, doesn’t it?”

“Only if you have a death wish.”

“Oh come on, Mick, you’re being ridiculous. You know not all ghosts are dangerous.”

“Yeah, but _all_ the ghosts are here now, _including_ the dangerous ones.”

“For once, Mick does have a point.” Said Wal, “Elmerton is a shady place to begin with, but now with all the ghosts there, and the people who are not-so-welcoming to ghosts invading their town, it’s not exactly an ideal place to go.”

“Guys, we’re in Amity Park, the Ghost Capital of America, it’s not like we were any better off before the Evacuation.  And you never know, there might be some really cool places there that us humans will never see because we’re too afraid of running into the ‘dangerous ones’.”

Wal and Mick exchanged a look with ill-repressed chuckles. Owen scowled. The three of them have been friends since Mommy and Me. They were close, but Mick and Wal were closer, to the point of practically having psychic conversations with each other. Owen learned to tell when his friends have just wordlessly made a joke at his expense.

“What’s so funny?” he said indignantly.

“Nothing,” said Mick, barely catching his glasses before they fell off his face, “it’s just you sounded a lot like Ophelia just then.”

“Yeah,” said Wal, still snickering, “I was almost expecting to see your eyes flash green. Maybe taking her to Dead Man’s Ghetto isn’t a bad idea after all.”

Owen’s face lit up.

“Really, you think so?”

“Yeah, now hearing it from her point of view, it certainly sounds like she’ll love it.”

“Especially the part where she has to save your butt from whatever trouble you’ll get into.” Said Mick.

“Ooh, I didn’t even think of that. Make sure to take pictures.”

Owen rolled his eyes.

“Very encouraging, guys.”

“You’re welcome,” Mick said while turning back to the screen, his attention to the conversation wearing off, “Now can we get back to the game? We’re one away from the boss level.”

* * *

Now that Owen had an idea for the date, a plan was formed and set into motion. He made a few calls, looked up a few places online, and struck a deal with Darcy to borrow her scooter for the night with the threat of having to pay for a new one if anything happened to it. Before he knew it, Saturday morning came. Whether out of excitement or anxiety, he woke up early and saw the sun rise. At around nine a.m. he took a glance out of his window and into the room across from his, Ophelia’s room. From where he was, he could only see the lower half of the bed. But it was enough to see that she was still asleep, wrapped in a cocoon of what may have been six blankets. Even Cujo was still asleep, resting at the foot of her bed in a guarding pose. Suddenly, Cujo’s ears pricked up and his tail twitch. Sleepily, the ghost dog raised his head, sniffing the air. When he caught the scent of whatever he was sniffing for, he opened his eyes and panted happily. Cujo seemed to be barking, though Owen couldn’t hear a thing. The blankets stirred, meaning Ophelia must be waking up. A pillow flew in the dog’s direction, only to go right through him as he continued to bark. Eventually, Cujo hopped off the bed and ran to – or rather _through_ – the bedroom door.

Owen wondered what Cujo had sensed that got him so excited. Then again, from what he had seen of the ghost dog, just about everything got the little green creature excited. He remembered one time when he came over to the Fenton’s house, Cujo was chasing after a fly that was buzzing around the room. Moments like that made him forget that the little ghost dog could turn into a huge monster at any given moment.  If he hadn’t seen it for himself (and he can’t remember how many times there were) he wouldn’t have believed it.

It was not long after Cujo had left the room that the door opened. Abi came in, talking as if she was already deep into a conversation. She was carrying a large shoulder bag that seemed to have quite a few things crammed inside. She deposited the bag on Ophelia’s vanity table, still talking about something Owen could not hear, and then turned to stand at the foot of the bed. The pile of blankets moved slightly but then stopped. Owen guessed from Abi’s annoyed expression that Ophelia had flipped herself over to ignore the intruder. Abi said something. When nothing happened, Abi grabbed the part of the blankets that may have been covering Ophelia’s ankles and pulled. Ophelia must have turned herself intangible, because the next minute Abi knocked herself to the ground with her own momentum.

Darcy walked in right as Abi was picking herself up from the ground. Em followed, one hand was holding Cujo while the other one was politely knocking on the doorframe before she entered. Em seemed to be apologizing for the three of them while Darcy was arguing with Abi.

Ophelia sat up on the bed, her whole body coming into his view. Owen knew that Ophelia’s hair wasn’t exactly tame, but he never imagined that it could be _messier_. From what he saw, Ophelia had just redefined the term “bed head”. Neither this nor the sleepy look in her eyes did anything to dull the murderous glare she was giving to the three girls in her room. She said something to them. Abi shrugged it off and said something back, making Ophelia look even more annoyed. Ophelia said a few words as Abi started poking around inside the closet. Darcy seemed to be looking around too, whether it was to get Abi out or to keep her from picking an outfit too “Fleury” (as they have come to call Abi’s particular tastes over the years) Owen was unsure. Em sat next to Ophelia on the edge of the bed. Cujo immediately hopped from Em’s lap to Ophelia’s the moment Em sat down. Ophelia petted him as Em said a few words to her. Ophelia replied with a shrug. As she spoke words Owen could not hear, Ophelia ran her fingers through her hair and pulled out a thin black hair tie. _That was her with her hair pulled back?!_ Owen thought, astonished.

A few minutes went by as Abi pulled out clothes from Ophelia’s closet and tossed them across every corner of the room. She couldn’t seem to find an article of clothing she liked, and if she did Ophelia received it with unamused eyes. He did not know how long it took until the three girls left the Fenton’s house, Abi dragging a reluctant ghost girl along with them, floating just a few feet off the ground. When he saw them walk through the front door, white rings were just disappearing at Ophelia’s head and feet. Her purple fleece pajamas were replaced by a thick wool coat and a pair of fur-lined boots. Her face half-buried in a green knit scarf and her record-breaking bed head stuffed into a hat that matched the scarf.

Before the girls disappeared from his line of vision, Ophelia turned her head towards Owen’s window and looked straight at him. Owen’s heart stopped for a moment. How long did she know he was watching them? She must think he’s some kind of perverted creep for watching her for that long. _He_ was starting to think he was some kind of perverted creep once he realized just how long he had been sitting there looking into a girl’s bedroom window…

Ophelia flashed an amused smile, as if she was holding back a laugh, and waved to him. All the blood that was drained from his body went straight to his cheeks. He couldn’t think of anything else to do but to wave back with a goofy smile. There wasn’t a moment in his life that he could recall where he felt as big an idiot as he did now.

* * *

The last half hour or so before the date was the most stressful of Owen’s life. He went through his closet to make sure that clothes he already picked (black jeans and a blue button up shirt) were in fact the best choice (they were the second best, but since the first best had paint on it second best would have to do). He made sure his hair was perfect and his face was clean. He checked twice on his computer that he got the right address and checked twice that the address was mapped out on his phone. He made sure that Darcy’s scooter was fueled and fully functional. He even spent ten good minutes in the bathroom making sure not a single drop of paint or smudge of charcoal was on his skin.  All that was left to do was go next door.

And just how was he going to do that?  
  
Should he come in early? Would that make him look too excited? Too needy? If he came in late, would that make him seem aloof or would making her wait just tick her off? He certainly didn’t want to do anything that would upset her after this morning. He had spent his whole day checking his phone, waiting for Ophelia to call him and cancel their date or worse break up with him. He wouldn’t blame her, of course, he would break up with him too if he caught him peeping into his bedroom window. He just hoped that Ophelia not calling him today was a good sign.   
  
In the end, Owen decided to come in two minutes before the arranged pick up time. It wasn’t until he knocked on the door that he realized that Ophelia might not be the person he should be worried about.

“Mr. Fenton”

The thought of him shot pure terror in Owen’s veins. What would happen if Mr. Fenton knew the boy was looking into his daughter’s bedroom window? He had the whole day to deal with him if he knew. But what did he say to him last time he was in his house? He wouldn’t do anything to him where there were witnesses. And his family was in the house. But what would happen to him if he went inside the Fentons’ house?

With that, Owen slowly stepped away from the door. He hoped it wasn’t too weird to call and ask Ophelia to come meet him outside. Before he could get off the front step, the door opened. Luckily for him, Mrs. Fenton opened the door.  
  
“Owen,” she said cheerfully, “You here to pick up Ophelia?”  
  
“Oh hey, Mrs. Fenton,” Owen said, adding an awkward wave, “um, yeah, is she ready?”

“I’ll go check. Won’t you come in?”  
  
Owen looked like a deer who just realized the pretty lights belonged to a massive truck.

“Um, no, no,” he stammered, “Thank you, but I’m fine here.”

Mrs. Fenton’s smile changed into an exhausted expression.

“Mr. Fenton isn’t here. He went with one of our friends to watch that new Crash Nebula movie on Main Street.”

Owen tried not to show his relief in case she would find that offensive.

“I guess I could come in for a little bit.”

Mrs. Fenton opened some space for him to walk in. She had an amused smile while she rolled her eyes. She closed the door and led him to the living room. She stopped at the bottom of the staircase.  
  
“Ophelia, honey, Owen’s here.”  
  
“I know, Mom.” Ophelia shouted back from her room.

“Are you ready?”

“Ask Abi, she’s holding me hostage until I look pretty- Ow! Not so hard!”

“Sorry,” Owen could hear Abi say, “But it’s a little hard to be gentle with your rat’s nest. Have you ever heard of a hairbrush?”  
  
“Obviously, you’re manhandling me with it!”

While the girls bickered upstairs, Mrs. Fenton walked to the living room with an exasperated look.   
  
“I’m guessing she’ll be another few minutes?” Owen joked with a nervous laugh.

“Abi, if you put that curling iron anywhere near me, I’m going to blast you into next week!”  
  
Mrs. Fenton sat down on the sofa.  
  
“They have been at this all day. I woke up to the girls bickering and dragging Ophelia out to the mall. I just hope you didn’t plan anything that requires the two of you being there within the next hour.”

Owen shook his head.

“Hey! I told you I didn’t want to use hairspray!” they could hear Ophelia cry out.  
  
“Suck it up! I’ve found worse junk in your hair!” was Abi’s response.

Ignoring the noise, Mrs. Fenton asked: “So, where _are_ you going? I hope for your sake it’s not Main Street for the Crash Nebula movie.”

Owen shook his head again. He never felt more glad for not listening to Mick than he was now.  
  
“Ophelia mentioned how much she missed the Ghost Zone. And I remembered hearing in the news how the county had allotted a part of Elmerton for ghosts to stay in-“

“You’re taking her to Dead Man’s Ghetto?”

Owen blinked excessively, surprised.

“That’s an actual thing? People actually call it that?”  
  
“It’s a ghetto by definition. I hate that decision beyond all measure. We had a chance to live together as a community. We have plenty of available real estate, and most ghosts actually use our currency. Yet they keep us segregated, sending them off to the most condemned part of the shoddiest district town where ‘they won’t haunt us’. It’s sickening!”

“They didn’t actually use those words, did they?”  
  
“When you work in the Law like I do, tone of voice becomes a second language.”

Owen looked down at the floor.  
  
“I guess I made a worse choice than I thought.”

Mrs. Fenton had a hint of concern in her eyes.

“Oh no, no, not at all. I like the idea of her getting some taste of the home we lost, I’m just sad about the conditions she has to taste them in. Ooh, but I should warn her to dress warm. All those ghosts in one place, that sense of hers will freeze her solid. Wait here.”

Mrs. Fenton got up from the couch and raced to the stairs.    
  
“Phé, honey,” He heard her say as she climbed up the stairs, “Let me see what you’re wearing.”

Owen couldn’t hear anything clearly after Mrs. Fenton closed the door. He looked over to the TV. It had been on the whole time except muted. It was on one of the news channels. The captions on the bottom said that the people were debating over the program in place for all the ghost refugees. Mrs. Fenton must have been watching this before he knocked on the door, Owen thought. The program ended and a news bulletin came into the screen.  
  
The caption read: “Tensions rise between ghost and humans. Inter entity crimes increase since Evacuation.”

He watched the muted report for what must have been minutes before he heard footfalls on the stairs.   
  
“She’ll be down in a minute.” Said Mrs. Fenton as she entered the room. She followed his eyes to the TV screen. “More proof of how horrible these new programs are. I have to process more cases this week than I would normally get in a year. Humans feel threatened so they make a preemptive strike. And then the ghosts fight back to defend themselves. It becomes a never-ending cycle of prejudice and violence until it ends in one big mess that people like me will have to clean up. If I couldn’t see the good in people, I would think our species love to just make up reasons to kill each other.”

Owen felt uncomfortable.  
  
“I’m not sure I have much of an opinion on this. I don’t really watch the news that much.”  
  
“Nonsense, you don’t need to have a news app on your phone to know what someone is doing is wrong. We are trampling on those people’s rights and a lot of them were the very people who gave us our rights in the first place. It’s only a matter of time before they revive GiW’s anti-ghost laws and my family gets affected.”  
  
“GiW?”  
  
“Guys in White. You are very lucky to be born after they were shut down.”   

“I’ll take your word for it.”  
  
They stared at the screen for a while. Owen couldn’t seem to think of anything to say to break the awkward silence. Mrs. Fenton did that for him. Without changing anything in her expression or taking her eyes off the TV she asked him.  
  
“I doubt you brought any protection with you.”

Owen nearly choked on his heart.

“W-what?”  
  
“You might need it. Things happen when we least expect them to.”

“I, uh, I didn’t think- I mean, I would never-”  
  
“Here, let me grab you a belt.”  
  
Owen paused. He was completely confused.  
  
“A-a belt?”  
  
Mrs. Fenton was already digging through the coat closest under the stairs.

“We have plenty of Specter Deflectors to spare so you could keep it if you want. I’ve been getting a lot of Snatcher cases recently so I know first hand that you can't be too careful out there.”  
  
“Snatchers?”  
  
“That’s the police’s term for ghosts who overshadow people against their will. Career criminals do it so witnesses have a different face to point out in a line up. Then there are others who take human bodies for more…recreational purposes. You do _not_ want to get snatched by them, take my word for it.”  
  
“Come back here!” Abi shouted, “I’m nowhere near done with your hair.”  
  
“Well, I say you are.”

Ophelia raced out of her room. Abi raced after her, she had a brush and pins in one hand and a can of hairspray in the other.  
  
“You asked me to help you get ready for your date, so you’re not ready until I say you are.”  
  
“I didn’t ask you to help, you just barged in and commandeered my wardrobe.”  
  
When Ophelia reached the bottom of the stairs, Owen got to see her clearly. 

She was wearing a black leggings and black leather boots with fur poking out from the inside. She wore a black long-sleeved top under a red knee-length dress that looked like it was spun by a ginormous spider.

On her hands she wore a pair of fingerless gloves whose weave pattern matched that of her dress. And around her neck was a black velvet choker with a charm of what else but a spider.

Abi did a pretty good job on the make up. Just enough to make her face look warmer than she probably was, along with a touch of silvery-purple shadow to accent her fawn eyes and something to color her lips a deep burgundy.

Her hair Owen didn’t have words for, but if he had they would be good ones. Instead of trying to straighten it out and hold it back in one tight bun, it looked like Abi pulled as much as she could grab and tied it on top of her head in a thick purple ribbon she had wrapped around a few dozen times. Ophelia’s black hair spilled out from the tie in every possible direction except maybe over her face.   
  
“Sorry you had to wait so long,” said Ophelia, “ I guess we got a little overboard.”  
  
Owen lost the use of his brain for a moment. Ophelia gave him a confused and worried look.

“Are you okay?”

He wanted to say that yes, he was okay and pull himself together. However, the only word that he could get out of his mouth was:

“Whoa…”

“You’re welcome!” chirped Abi from the top of the staircase.  
  
Ophelia’s cheeks flushed and her eyes flashed.

“Aw man, does this mean I have to go through this every time we go out on a date from now on?”  
  
“You have my number.” Said Abi, “Maybe next time you could be a little less whiney, you’re almost as bad as Darcy.”

“Maybe I should’ve listened to Darcy and not let you know about my date.” Ophelia grumbled under her breath.

Mrs. Fenton returned from the closet with a black wool coat and red scarf draped over one arm. On the other arm was a metal belt that bared the color scheme everyone came to recognize as belonging to Fenton Works technology. It wasn’t too hard for Owen to guess that it was the Spector Deflector that Mrs. Fenton had told him about moments before.

“I think you look lovely, sweetheart,” said Mrs. Fenton as she draped the coat over her daughter’s shoulders. “But are you sure you don’t want to wear anything warmer?”  
  
“I’ll be fine, Mom, really,” Ophelia said as she was putting her arms through the sleeves of the coat, “And if not, I can always ask the place if they can turn up the heat.”

Mrs. Fenton was wrapping the scarf around Ophelia’s neck.

“Okay, but don’t let yourself freeze. If it gets too cold, you and Owen leave, alright? I don’t want you to get hypothermic, and your ice core hasn’t developed yet-“  
  
Ophelia became transparent. Her cheeks blushed as her eyes flashed.

“Mom!” Ophelia whined, embarrassed.

“Oh, come on, how can your ice core be embarrassing?”

“It just is, okay?”

Mrs. Fenton rolled her eyes turned to Owen. She took the belt draped over her arm and held it out to him.  
  
“Here,” she said, “Put this on.”

Without hesitation, Owen took the belt from her and started threading it through the loops on his jeans. He was kind of glad he didn’t already have a belt on.

“This one’s kind of like a seat belt,” she added, “Just connect the end to the buckle until you hear it click. Then you just push on the buckle to get it off.”

Owen did as she said to get the belt on. After staring at the dead thing for a couple of moments, he looked back up at her.   
  
“How does it turn on?” he asked.

“Just turn the buckle.”

Owen did, and immediately the belt was humming to life. A faint light came from the green part of the belt, another indication that it was on. Owen smiled. He couldn’t stop thinking about how cool this all was.

“There,” said Mrs. Fenton, “You are now ghost-proof.”

Owen was bout to thank her when a thought came to his head.  
  
“Doesn’t that mean I’m Ophelia-proof, too?”

“Does this answer your question?”  Ophelia said as she gave him an attack hug. The belt did nothing to repel her so Owen safely presumed that he wasn’t Ophelia-proof.

“The belt is calibrated not to repel half-ghosts” Ophelia explained, “It’s not perfect, though, so I can’t walk you through walls while it’s on or anything.”

“Well, the place we’re going to should have a door, so I think we’ll be fine.”  
  
During this time, Abi had went back into Ophelia’s room, packed up all of her beauty equipment, and now was walking down the stairs.   
  
“Can someone give me a hand with the door?” Abi asked.   
  
Mrs. Fenton was the one to open the door for her.  
  
“Thanks, Ms. M,” Abi freed one of her hands to wave to her friends, “Bye Owen, bye Phé, you are not allowed to go to sleep tonight until you tell me how it went.”

“Bye Abi,” Ophelia said with a wave. When Abi disappeared behind the door, Ophelia turned back to Owen.

“We should probably head out, too, huh?” she said, “I’ve kept you waiting long enough.”

Owen nodded in agreement. He followed Ophelia to the door where she hugged her mother and received a kiss on her head.  
  
“Don’t get yourself into too much trouble,” said Mrs. Fenton, “Remember, you’re still on parole for that stunt you and Francis pulled.”

Ophelia laughed.  
  
“I’ll do my best.”  
  
Ophelia went out the door with Owen, waving back to her mother.

“Bye Mom.”  
  
“Bye, honey,” said Mrs. Fenton as she waved back, “don’t get him in trouble, either.”

“I can only do my best, Mom.”

And with that, Mrs. Fenton closed the door behind them, leaving them alone outside the house. The sun was nothing but a sliver in the horizon and the street lights had yet to come on. The only good light outside was the soft glow coming off Ophelia, making her seem almost angelic. Owen couldn’t help but stare at her.  
  
“You look really amazing.” He blurted out. “I really like your dress.”

Ophelia’s cheeks brightened.  
  
“Thanks”   
  
“I didn’t think Abi would pick this kind of look.”  
  
“She didn't exactly. My mom let me borrow this and Abi  - how did she put it? – made do.”

“That’s your mom’s?”

Ophelia furrowed her brow.  
  
“Yeah, I borrow a lot of my mom’s clothes. What’s wrong with that?”  
  
“Didn’t you go with the girls to the mall today, or something?”

Ophelia laughed like it was some part of an inside joke.  
  
“Oh, yeah, we got kicked out before we had a chance to buy anything.”  
  
“Kicked out? Oh, wait, let me guess: Abi and Darcy?”

“A-yep”  
  
“Again?”

“Again”

Owen rolled his eyes. Abi and Darcy always had a rather antagonistic friendship. They were on opposing sides for just about everything, and would fight over it without hesitation. Sometimes, their fights would escalate past words until it became a public scene. This has led to them having been thrown out of just about everywhere in Amity, with the exception of the park where Em’s dad had to separate them.

“Trix always asks me how those two are friends.” Ophelia continued, “I never really know how to answer that.”

Owen laughed.  
  
“It’s hard to explain, you kind of have to grow up with them to understand.”

“I think I have an idea, but maybe you should try to explain it to me sometime.”  
  
“Sure, maybe later.”

Owen went to the scooter and took one of the helmets hanging from the handles. He was about to hand it to Ophelia when he paused.   
  
“Listen, about this morning…”

Ophelia raised an eyebrow, curious.

“This morning?”

“Yeah, I’m really sorry about that. I swear, I’m not that kind of guy. I didn’t mean to look in-“  
  
Ophelia’s eyes flashed, the expression on her face showed something clicked.

“ _Oh,_ that,” she said. She giggled. “Yeah don’t worry about that.”

Owen wasn’t quite sure he heard that right.  
  
“What? You caught me looking into you room.”  
  
Ophelia shrugged.  
  
“You didn’t see anything. I would’ve closed the drapes if there were something I didn’t want you to see. And it’s not like I’m not aware that you can look in. Our rooms are right across from each other, there’s really nothing else to look at but the room across the way. Sometimes you just look out and catch yourself looking in. I’ve caught myself looking into your room a few times.”

Owen was taken aback.

“You’ve looked into my room?”  
  
“And you’ve looked into mine, so I guess we’re even.”  
  
Owen wanted to argue, but since he had little ground to stand on, and since he didn’t want anything to send Mr. Fenton knocking on his door. But still, he had to know.

“You haven’t seen….?”

“If you’re asking about your junk food stash, your dad’s been stealing from it.”

“Huh, I should’ve known when they were disappearing around the same time Mom made him start that diet. I owe Millie a huge apology.”

“You should probably let her know why her Halloween candy has been shrinking while you're at it."

* * *

 

 The ride from the suburban Amity to Elmerton took less than an hour. When they reached the bridge between the two cities, they were surprised to find a whole line of cars and police officers stationed at the tollbooths.

"Since when has there been toll booths on Irving's Bridge?" Owen wondered aloud.

"They're not tollbooths," Ophelia corrected, "They're point checks. The crime rate has gone up so much in Elmerton that the police are doubling their manpower here. No ghost can leave at night without the right papers and no human can enter with anti-ghost weapons. Mom and Auntie Val have been arguing about this non-stop."

"Do you think I'll be okay? You know, what with the belt?"

"My mom wouldn't have given you that if you weren't. Honestly, the only trouble you'll get is having me in the back seat."

"That's a cute joke, Phé."

Ophelia laughed nervously.

"Yeah, joke."

As they got closer and closer to the front of the line, Owen couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He wished he had packed an extra set of clothes with him because he felt like he was sweating right through his shirt.

"Why are you so worried?" Ophelia asked, sounding genuinely curious. "It's not like you're smuggling drugs or anything."

He got scared at the thought of the officer hearing the word "drugs".

"I know, it's just... Police make me nervous. I feel like I might say something wrong and get arrested or something,"

Ophelia giggled. She must have found it funny because it took her a while to calm down.

"Trust me, if one of us was to get arrested for mouthing off to a cop, it definitely _wouldn't_ be you."

Before he knew it, he was at the checkpoint booth. A floodlight shined behind the officer, making it impossible to see his face. Owen respectfully removed his helmet for the officer.

"Evening, sir," Owen said with pseudo-confidence.

"Evening," the officer said back rather coldly. "Let me see your ID."

"Oh, um, sure"

"Officer Rogers!"

The officer turned his head from Owen to Ophelia.

"Ophelia Fenton? What are you doing out here this late at night? Aren't you and Francis supposed to be grounded?"

"Francis, yes, but since I was sent by Dani my parents put me on parole. I'm out on a date."

Officer Rogers turned back to Owen.

"I'm guessing you're the unlucky gentleman." He held out his hand to Owen, "Dwayne Rogers, I've been working with Captain Gray and the Fentons since this little one's mother would bring her to the precinct in a stroller."

Timidly, Owen shook the officer's hand.

"Owen Dodgson, boyfriend, obviously, and next door neighbor. I haven't had the privilege of knowing her as long as you have."

Officer Rogers took his hand away and rubbed his fingers.

“You okay, kid? Your hands are dripping.”

“Owen’s afraid of cops.” Ophelia answered for him. “Which I guess is understandable since the only ones he’s met are Auntie Val and Officer Yume.”

Officer Rogers laughed.   
  
“Well, Captain Gray can be scary, and that’s when you’re on her good side. Not to worry, kid, you’re not in trouble.” Officer Rogers turned back to Ophelia and pointed to her. “You, keep him out of trouble.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Ophelia asked, indignantly.

“You know why.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes, but she was smiling so she couldn’t be that upset.

“Yeah, yeah.”

The car horns started blaring behind them. Owen saw maybe twenty pairs of headlights behind him.

“You better move along,” said Officer Rogers.

“You want us to bring anything back for you?” Ophelia asked.  
  
“Nah, my shift’s about to end soon. You have fun.”  
  
Owen confirmed with a nod. He revved the scooter’s engine back to life.  
  
“Nice meeting you, sir.” He said before riding off.   
  
“Bye, Officer Rogers” Ophelia called as they rode away. After a few seconds, she gave a cheerful sigh.

“That was nice, feels like ages since I’ve seen anyone from the Precinct.”

“Do a lot of the police know you that well?”  
  
“Only a few. A lot of the ones who knew me when I was little either transferred or retired years ago.”

Owen smiled a little.   
  
“It’s weird. Sometimes I forget that you were born here. You just seem so new to Amity, but yet at the same time you seem to know more about this town than any of us. And then there are people here that I probably would never have crossed paths with who’ve known you a lot longer. It’s just weird, there are strangers who know you better than I do.”  
  
“They’re not strangers to me.”

“They are to me, you never talk about them to any of us.”  
  
“You can’t tell everything about your life all at once.”

“Well, one thing would be nice.” He muttered under his breath.

They were quiet for a while as he tried to find the place. When he got to the address, he pulled over at the curb and checked the map twice.   
  
“That can’t be right,” he said as he looked at the map and the message with the address. “It should be right here.”  
  
The directions on his phone took him to a condemned restaurant that appeared to have been abandoned for years. It didn’t even have the right name.   
  
“What should be here?” Ophelia asked.  
  
“Trix told me about this new place, a nightclub, it’s supposed to be right there.”  
  
“What’s the place called?”  
  
“The Ouija Board? She said it was exclusive, but I didn’t think it meant non-existent.”  
  
Ophelia looked at the building with a quizzical expression and then at the ground. She hopped off the scooter and went to the boarded up door.  
  
“It’s here,” she said.

Owen looked at her, confused.

“What?”

“Go park the scooter someplace where no one can steal it and come over here.”

Not quite understanding what was going on, Owen hid Darcy’s scooter in the alley next to the building and headed to the door where Ophelia was.   
  
“Okay, where do you see the place?”  
  
“Right here, switch off the belt so I can phase you through.”

With great uncertainty, he switched off the specter deflector. As soon as the little lights in the belt dimmed out, Ophelia grabbed his hands and yanked him through the wall.

The inside of the restaurant looked just as derelict as the outside, if not worse. A great cloud of dust swirled around them the moment they entered. He held his breath to keep himself from choking on the dust until he noticed the dust was flying through him. The only source of light was the street lamps spilling through the cracks of the boarded windows, and of course Ophelia’s glow.

“Phé, are you sure this is the place? Because if it is, I think we’ve missed the party by fifty years.”  
  
Ophelia covered her mouth and giggled.

“Silly, this isn’t the real Ouija Board, this is just the front.”

“Front?”

“Yeah, follow me.”

Ophelia led him to the kitchen of the old restaurant, right to the rusted out door of a walk in fridge. She phased him through into near total darkness.

“Okay, why are we in a fridge? Is there a portal in the fridge?”

“No, but there’s a door under your feet.”

Owen looked down. He inspected it as best he could with such limited light, but he couldn’t see anything other than a floor.   
  
“I don’t see a door.” He said.

“Of course you don’t, these things weren’t made to be easily spotted. But look.”

Ophelia jumped up and stamped on the ground. Owen didn’t quite catch it the first time but the second time she jumped he caught it.

“The floor is hollow.”

Ophelia nodded.

“I’ll phase us down, it’ll take all night to go in the human way.”

Ophelia took his hand and they sank through the floor. He was already starting to get used to the whole intangible thing, especially the way it made his skin tingle.

Underneath the floor was a kind of hallway. It was narrow and definitely manmade.

He could barely make out the shape of light fixtures along the walls. None of them seemed to have been used in years. We wondered why nobody bothered to ever use them but then came to the conclusion that ghosts probably don’t need any light.

His feet didn’t touch the ground, another new and exciting experience. She pulled him along the dark halls as if he were a balloon on a string. It felt like the hallway went on forever.

“There it is,” Ophelia announced cheerily.  
  
It was too dark for Owen to see right away, he had to wait until they reached the end of the hall to see what she meant, much to his puzzlement.

“Um, Phé, that’s a brick wall.”

“Yes, yes it is.”

 She pulled them both through the wall. On the other side was a small corridor.  It was dimly lit, which was a relief to Owen whose eyes were readjusting from being in the dark so long. Then he heard music. Old jazz music like the records he found in his great-grandfather’s trunk. After a few seconds of listening, Owen realized that the music was being played live.

There was a doorway on the wall opposite them, covered by a velvet curtain. Beside the doorway was a podium. The woman standing behind it had pale green skin and red eyes. She wore a strange modern reimagining of a twenties flapper, with her dark green hair curled into bedsprings and held down by what looked like a string of black pearls.

She gave the two of them a bored and contemptuous look.

“Can I help you?” She said in a tone that made her words sound a lot like “go away”.

Owen took a moment before answering.

“Oh, um, yes, is this the Ouija Board?”

“No, you're in some other under ground jazz-themed club.” Owen could help but notice that this ghost woman sounded a lot like a grouchy Betty Boop. It both amused and irritated him at the same time.

“Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes, I do,” he said, “It's under the name Dodgson. D-O-D-“

“I can spell.” Snapped the ghost woman. She opened her large black and red book and ran her finger through the page.

“There we are, Dodgson, party of two. And I'm assuming you and your girlfriend are both under age.”

“Yes, we are.”

“You’re going to need these.”

She reached into the podium and pulled out two sets of wristbands. One was day glo orange while the other was florescent pink.

“Stick out your wrists.”

“You could say please.” Ophelia said, looking just as annoyed by the ghost woman as the ghost woman seemed to be of the both of them. The woman rolled her eyes.

“You want in or not?”

Ophelia glared at her as she held out her wrist to the ghost. She gave them both an orange band.

“And since you're a breather, you get another one.” She told Owen as she stuck the pink band on him.

“Breather?”

“Human” Ophelia explained.

“Yeah, you living types are so high maintenance” said the ghost, “We have make sure you don't drink too much and poison yourself, have to make sure there's enough air coming in so you won't asphyxiate, and we have to make sure there's someone to hold your hand when you want to leave.” She glared over to Ophelia, “Just so we’re clear, pool cue, you're responsible for him.”

“Pool cue?”

“Wouldn't she need one,” Owen asked, trying to divert from the impending conflict, “she's human too.”

The ghost raised an eyebrow at him. She looked over to Ophelia with critical eyes.   
  
“Oh, you’re one of those halfa freaks I’ve heard about.”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed. The ghost seemed amused.

“Well, considering she’s only half human she may not need all the things you breathers do. But I guess we shouldn’t take any other unnecessary risks. Too bad we don’t have a wristband for freaks.”  
  
She fixed the pink wristband onto Ophelia’s wrist, all the while receiving the ghost girl’s vehement glare. When she was done, she pulled the curtain open and gestured for them to enter.  
  
“You should be able to find your own table,” she said.   
  
“Isn’t it part of your job to lead us to one?” Owen asked, his aggravation clear in his voice.

“You don’t need me to hold your hand, that’s what you got her for. Just try not to trip over anything, I know how hard it is for you corporeals.”

Owen wanted to call this ghost lady out on her rudeness, but he knew better. If he tried, he’d probably get thrown out of the place and completely ruin the date.

He walked through the doorway, not saying a word to the ghost. Ophelia followed after him but stopped and stuck her head back through the doorway.

“You know, I bet I’d be a shrew too if I had to spend every night on the boring side of the curtain.”

* * *

The Ouija Board was just what Owen had expected and more. It was as big as the Casper High gym, if not bigger. There were tables and booths strewn all across the place, save for a small opening in front of the stage where supposedly people danced (which they did, but hardly any of them had their feet on the ground). It wasn't too bright, but it was just enough to see everything. The design of the place seemed to capture the embodiment of jazz and all its relative genres without being distinctly of one style or era or another.

 On the side opposite the stage there was a bar, with a ghostly tender mixing drinks with fantastic flare. Waitresses would fly about handing out drinks as well as trays of food from an unseen kitchen. Some were dressed similar to the ghost they met at the doorway, others dressed in fashions of different eras that yet still tied into the aura of the place.

On stage a live band played from their individual stands. A woman in a shimmering mermaid dress and matching opera gloves stood alone in the center of the stage in front of a big, old fashioned microphone. Owen and Ophelia had showed up right when the song started.

 

_I'm a country girl, I ain't seen a lot, but you came along and my heart went POP!_

“This place is beautiful, Owen,” Ophelia said, her genuine amazement was clear on her face.

“Thanks,” Owen said, his cheeks pink with bashfulness. “But you really should thank Trix, she was the one who told me about this place.”

“I will, next time I see her.”

She curled up next to him in their booth seat, her head resting on his shoulder. He noticed that she was starting to shiver.

“Are you okay?” He asked. “You're shivering.”

“Just a little cold.” She said. Her breath showed as a vapor as she spoke. “I'm glad that woman at the front didn't bother to take our coats.”

“Do you want mine?” He said, already taking off his coat.

“No thanks, I've got my own. Besides, I'm used to it now.”

“You sure? Your mom sounded pretty worried about you getting too cold.”

“She and my dad worry about everything involving me. Trust me, I'm fine. Unless I start turning blue, you don’t need to worry.”

Although she said no, Owen draped his coat over her. She was about to protest, but she seemed to like the extra warmth and instead wrapped the second coat tightly over herself. She nuzzled up closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“Just because I don’t need to, doesn’t mean I won’t.”

“Aww”

They both looked up to find a waitress with one hand holding up her tray and the other over her mouth.

“I’m sorry, you two are just so adorable together. I wish I had a guy to treat me so well.”

Owen and Ophelia looked at each other, both blushing. The waitress set down her tray on the table and removed two coffee cups.

“I’ve got a hot chocolate for the both of you.”

“Ooh, neat, giant marshmallow!” Ophelia reached out for the marshmallow floating in the cup.

“Careful, doll, that stuff is really hot.”

The warning came too late and she stuck three fingers into the drink and took out the half melted marshmallow. She didn't even flinch as she brought it to her mouth to take a bite out of the melted half.

“Mmm, I love it when it's all melty. You don't find a lot of places that serve cocoa with marshmallows.”

Owen looked at her dumbfounded. Her fingers were a little pink, but that was the only reaction her body seemed to have of the heat.

“Wow, Phé, you must be really cold. Did you even feel that at all?”

Ophelia looked at him perplexed.

“Well, yeah, of course I did. It felt nice.”

Owen was not sure if he was satisfied with that answer but he let it go for now. He turned back to the waitress.

“Thanks for the drinks, but we haven't even ordered anything yet.”

“I know, they were sent over.”

Ophelia pulled her attention from her drink and raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“Sent by who?”

“By me,”

A woman approached their table. Unlike most of the ghosts here, this one looked convincingly like a human. She had red hair shaped upwards like a pair of horns and ears with a rather distinct point. Her skin was pale, though it had much more color than Ophelia’s. She had a sweet smile and green eyes that were only outshined by Ophelia’s.

She wore a tight red dress that showed off her curvy figure. She appeared to be in her thirties or forties, which was about as old as his mother, but yet she was a lot more beautiful than any living woman her age that he knew of.

“I hope you don't mind, I just saw you shivering from across the room and I thought you needed something to warm up your little bones.”

Ophelia scowled at the ghost woman.

“Thanks, Spectra, but I could have ordered one myself.”

Owen was set aback by the instant coldness she had towards the woman she called Spectra. The woman, however, was unfazed by the hostility in Ophelia’s voice. She didn't even seem to have heard anything but the word “thanks”.

“Think nothing of it. So, what are you doing in this part of town all by yourself? Don't you usually have someone to hold your hand around the scary places?”

“The only thing scary around here is you, and I believe anything involving me is none of your business.”

Spectra gave a small frown of disappointment. Her smile returned when she set her eyes on Owen.

“And who might you be?” She asked him with the sweetest voice.

Ophelia cut him off before he could answer.

“Also none of your business.”

“Oh come on, Ophelia, I was only saying hello.”

“When you really should be saying goodbye.”

Spectra turned over to Owen.  
  
“Well, at least that she has good taste in boys.” She said. Did she just wink at him?

“Why don’t you go prey on someone your own age, I believe the Natural History Museum stays open late on weekends.”

Spectra gave her a cold glare. This went away and was replaced with a smile completely different than the one she had before, one that reminded him of old illustrations of the Cheshire Cat. He swore even her teeth looked sharper.

“As you wish, I was also planning on warning you-“

“About what?”

“Well, I wasn't sure you knew, I doubt you would come here if you did-“

“Know about what?”

“You do know who owns the Ouija Board, don't you?”

“Should I care?”

“You probably should, since it's Baylock.”

At the very sound of the name, Ophelia made a face like she tasted something bitter.

“You've got to be kidding me. I thought that guy was in jail?”

“You have to keep better tabs, sweetie, he's been out for months. And last time I heard, he's still quite bitter over your mother convicting him.”

Ophelia sank into her seat. Owen wasn't sure what was going on, nor was he sure that they remembered he was even there.

“Who’s Baylock?” He asked.

“Just a guy who doesn't like my family.” Ophelia replied

“That sure narrows it down.” Spectra snipped.

Ophelia flashed her eyes at Spectra.  
  
“Weren’t you leaving?”

Spectra held up her hands in surrender.   
  
“Alright, alright, I’ll leave you two alone. Enjoy your date.”

With that, Spectra turned around and disappeared into the crowd that was starting to form around the dance floor.  Owen turned back to Ophelia, whose eyes were glaring bright at where the ghost woman had disappeared. He touched her hand. She looked over to him. She shook off her vehemence as if she came out of a trance.

Ophelia’s expression changed into something like internal frustration and guilt.

“Sorry you had to see that,” she said with genuine remorse.

“What _was_ that?” Owen asked, “ _Who_ was that?”

“That was Penelope Spectra, she’s someone my parents know way back when. She’s…complicated.”

“Complicated? Like Francis?”

“Kind of, not really. She’d not my friend, nor is there anything amicable between her and my family, but she’s a friend of my old babysitter who _is_ a friend of the family so…”

“So you have play nice?”

Ophelia gave a small laugh.

“Not even, no one’s pretending to like each other here. But our paths do end up crossing more than anyone would like.”

“So she’s a friend of a friend but she isn’t you friend, and although you don’t have to pretend to like each other for the friend you get stuck with each other anyway?”

“Pretty much…except not really.”

“I’m getting a headache.”

Ophelia smiled.

“Like I said, complicated.”

“She’s not one of those bad ghosts that your dad use to fight, is she?”

 Ophelia nodded.

“So she’s not nice?”

“She feeds off the misery of others, very far from nice. Just keep your belt on and don’t talk to her and you’ll be fine.”

Owen nodded, he looked down at the still hot drink in front of him.

“Should I be worried about the cocoa?”

Ophelia dipped the other half of her marshmallow into her drink.

“What, like you think she put something in it? Nah, that’s not her style.” She popped the marshmallow into her mouth and chewed it a few times before talking. “I mean, I think there was a thing about her and bugs, and most practices of witchcraft need something the victim has touched to enact curses on them, but I don’t think she’d put something in our drinks.”

“Witchcraft? You think she’s a witch?”

“I think she’s what a lot of witches sold their souls to.”

 Owen wasn’t sure if she was joking until she gave him a small smile. That released enough tension for him to laugh.

“But you don’t have to drink it, if I scared you too much.” She lifted the cup from its saucer and held in both her hands. “Hot drinks are good for warming hands.”  
  
She took a sip and in an instant, her eyes went wide. She made a small shriek and kept her mouth open. She nearly dropped her cup when she used her hands to fan her tongue.   
  
“Are you okay?” Owen asked.  
  
“Hot drinks are _too_ good at warming mouths,” she said, “I think I burned my tongue.”

“You want me to get some ice?”  
  
“No, no, it’s fine. At least some part of me is warm. Stupid marshmallow lied to me about how hot the drink was.”

“Didn’t you dip your fingers into that?”

Ophelia didn’t answer. Instead, she held his hand in hers. His hand instinctively jerked away from the chill that came from her hand. It was like he was touching a block of ice.

“Okay, good point.” He said, trying to warm his hand. “You know, we don’t have to stay here if you’re not alright. You don’t have to tough it out for me.”

Ophelia picked the cup from its saucer and held it just a few inches above the table. She gave him a comforting smile that almost looked warm.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m fine. I like it here, it’s almost like I’m back in G.Z. Besides, it’s not going to matter where I go, I’ve been freezing like this for the past month.” She lifted to cup to her lips and blew on the drink. “At least here I have something that might actually warm me up.”

She took a cautious sip. A moment later, a quizzical expression came upon her face. She looked into her cup, and the quizzical expression became a surprised one.

“Uh oh,” she said aloud.   
  
Owen became a lot more worried now. Bad things are heralded by Ophelia Fenton’s uh oh’s..   
  
“What’s wrong? Why the ‘uh oh’?” 

Ophelia looked up at him, startled. Her eyes darted, nervously, almost like she was about to be caught in a lie.

“Um, uh oh…I spilled cocoa on my mom’s dress.” The cup slipped from her hands and fell on her lap. She flinched where the cup fell on her, immediately picking it up and putting it on the table. Owen jumped in his seat.

“Are you alright?” he asked, reminding him of how he sounded when Millie hurt herself. “Are you burned?”

“I’m fine, I’ve got about five layers under my leggings. It just feels a little toasty.”

 She got one of the cloth napkins on the table and started dabbing at her lap.

“Darn it! I got it all over! My mom’s going to kill me if she found out I stained this dress! My dad proposed to her while she was wearing this, I might as well have flung paint on her wedding dress!”  
  
Ophelia got up from the table, making sure that every part of her dress was hidden under her coat.

“I got to go to the bathroom to clean this up!”

Neither of them realized that she had knocked over the cup until it shattered on the floor with a _crash!_ just loud enough to be heard over the music. Startled, Ophelia jumped away.   
  
“Darnit, darnit, darnit!” She exclaimed. She leaned down, as if to kneel down and pick up the pieces, but she stopped herself halfway. She bobbed back and forth nervously, unable to decide which one of her messes to clean up. Finally, she stood straight up and turned to where she must have thought the bathroom was.   
  
“Sorry,” she said as she was walking away, “Tell them I’ll pay for the cup.”

Before Owen could say anything, Ophelia disappeared into the crowd. For a moment he sat there, unsure if he should pick up the broken pieces of ceramic. Right when he made up his mind and was about to get up from his seat, one of the waitresses walked by.   
  
“Oh for crying out loud,” she said once she spotted the mess, “You humans are so clumsy.”

She knelt down and started picking up the pieces, putting it on her tray of dirty cups. Owen got up from his seat.

“I'm so sorry,” he said, “let me help you-“

“Not one strep closer,” Said the waitress while holding up a hand, “the last thing this place needs is for one of you humans to cut yourself.”

Owen took a step back, holding his hands up defensively.

“Okay, okay, I won't touch it. Um, my girlfriend and I are willing to pay for the broken cup.”

“That's nice of you, but we've got a budget set aside just for these kind of things.”

“We’ll add it to the tab, anyway.”

“That's sweet of you- where the heck did all this ice come from?”

Confused, Owen looked over the waitress’ shoulder. Along with the broken cup, there was what looked like the remains of a snowball scattered across the floor.

“Ice? But that was a cup of hot chocolate.”

“Someone must’ve spilled one of their drinks on top of your mess. I don't know what is worse: clumsy humans or inconsiderate ghosts.”

Not knowing what to say, Owen just gave her a shrug. The waitress gave him a polite smile as she got on her feet.

“I'll have one of the busboys clean that up. You want another round of your drink?”

“Um, thanks, but that’s actually my girlfriend’s drink. I'll ask her when she gets back from the bathroom.”

The waitress gave him a nod and walked away with the pieces of the cup. Owen went back to his seat, curious of how someone managed to spill so much ice without him noticing.

* * *

After the end of the tenth song, Owen once again checked the time on his phone. It's been about forty minutes since Ophelia ran off to the bathroom. What was taking her so long? Shouldn’t she be back by now? Should he be worried? She was trying to wash off a stain. But couldn't she have just phased it off? Do ghost powers work like that? Would ghosts ever need to do laundry if they could phase the dirt off their clothes? Do ghosts even get dirt on their clothes if they're intangible? Maybe in the Ghost Zone, since the dirt there is made of the same stuff as they are. Is it the same stuff? Maybe he should ask Ophelia about that when she gets out of the bathroom.

He wondered if she was spending some of this time fixing her make-up, despite not seeing her carry a purse or make-up bag into the bathroom; which of course made him wonder about ghostly pockets.

“Hello, again.”

Owen lifted his head and found the same ghost woman that had approached them before. Spectra, that's what Phé called her. Remembering what Ophelia told him about her, Owen nervously looked away.

“Hello,” he said.

“What are you doing here all by yourself? Weren't you with the Fenton girl?”

“She's in the bathroom,” he said curtly, “She'll be back any minute.”

“The bathroom?” There was a hint of fake surprise in her voice, “And about how long has she been in there?”

“Not long”

“How long is not long?”

“You ask a lot of questions, lady.”

“Please, call me Penelope.” Without even asking for permission, she took a seat next to him in the booth. Elbows on the table, she rested her head on neatly folded fingers. Owen noticed how close she was to him and scooted a little ways away. This did not go unnoticed by Ms. Penelope Spectra.

“You shouldn't be afraid of me,” she said, “I don't bite…unless, of course, you want me to.”

She laughed, showing her sharp teeth. Even more scared than before, Owen moved away from the woman.

“That was a joke, sweetie, not all ghosts are monsters trying to eat you, you know?”

“I-I know,” he said, nervous both from fear and guilt of appearing to be prejudiced. “It's just…well…your reputation precedes you.”

Spectra’s teeth disappeared behind a scowl. Not a scowl, Owen noticed a look of hurt in her eyes.

“Let me guess, Ophelia told you that I was some kind of she-devil who feeds off the misery of others?”

Owen looked away, guilty.

“She didn't exactly use the word ‘she-devil’…”

Penelope let out a disappointed sigh.

“I'll never understand why she hates me so much. True, I had done a few bad things in the past, but it’s not like I’ve killed anyone. Kitty nearly stole her aunt’s body and yet they’re best friends.  I’ve tried so much to show her and her family that I have changed, but none of them will give me the chance. I bet she thought the hot chocolates I sent you were poisoned.”

Owen’s cheeks flushed.  
  
“No, she didn’t think that.”

Spectra smiled at him, but this one was different that ones she gave them before. It was almost like his mother’s smile, except there was something wrong about it that something in the back of his mind told him to be wary.

“You’re a sweet boy, I bet you don’t judge people by other’s opinions of them.”

“I try my best not to let that get in the way of knowing people.”

“That’s a good quality to have. You hardly see that nowadays. I bet despite knowing what Ophelia said about me, you would give me the benefit of the doubt.”

Owen was quiet. He couldn’t think of anything to say to her that wouldn’t upset her or wouldn’t be a lie. While he was thinking of something polite to say, Penelope slid a little closer to him.

“I’m surprised that Ophelia took you to this side of town.”

“Um, well, actually, I brought her out here.”

Her eyes lit up, as if he just coughed up a diamond.

“Really? So it wasn’t her idea to come out here where all her friends would be?”

“Not exactly, no.”

Penelope had a look on her face Owen has seen before. It was the look Abi gets when she has a juicy piece of gossip to share, except a lot more malicious.

“Huh,”

“What?”

Penelope waved it off.

“Oh, it’s nothing, it’s just…well, don’t you think it’s odd that she never offered to take you to the ghostly side of town? Or even the Ghost Zone back when it was safe? Doesn’t she want you to know anything about her?”

Owen didn’t have an answer to that. Penelope frowned, she looked like she was genuinely concerned.

“It’s okay, just because she’s a little secretive doesn’t mean it has anything to do with you.”

“What would it have to do with me?”

Penelope shrugged.   
  
“Nothing, it has nothing to do with you. I mean, I know that some people don’t bother telling anything about themselves to someone they don’t care about-“

“You don’t think she cares about me?”

“I didn’t say that! I just think it’s weird she doesn’t want to share anything about herself to someone who’s supposed to be her boyfriend. Some might think that you’re a glorified kissing buddy.”

Owen bit his lip. Penelope raised a brow, truly surprised.  
  
“Seriously? She doesn’t even let you kiss her?”  
  
“I’ve gotten a couple of pecks on the cheek.” He said defensively.

“So do grandmothers, sweetie.”

“She went through a lot. Her last boyfriend was a manipulative pig, so of course she has a few trust issues. You don’t know her-“

“And you know even less.”  
  
Owen shook his head. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and how sensible it was. There was no way that Ophelia doesn’t care about him, but what does he know? Nothing, because she never tells him anything. Being an enigma wrapped inside a mystery was cute when he first met her, but as her boyfriend it is very frustrating. Does she care about him? Like he does for her? Or is he just a friend that caught her on the rebound?

“I’m not a rebound guy,” he said out loud, “She cares about me, just like I do her.”

“Really, then why hasn’t she come out of the bathroom yet?”

Once again, Owen was rendered speechless. He knew what her conclusion was, but Ophelia is not that kind of person. What little he knew of her, he knew that she would never ditch a person right in the middle of a date.

But then, why hasn’t she come back yet?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shrieking. He saw Penelope pull her hand away from his shoulder, sparks dancing off her fingers. He looked down to see his belt glowing, he assumed to be due to it recently being in use.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve warned you that I was wearing a Spector Deflector.”

“You really should have.” Penelope said, cradling her still sparking hand. “How about turning that off?”

“Sorry, I can’t, I promised not to turn it off so long as I’m in this part of town.”

“Oh, afraid of Snatchers getting you? Smart boy, they are nasty sons of specters.” Owen was too lost in his own gloom to notice the begrudging in her voice, or at least register it properly as something to be suspicious of.

“Question for you: how are you going to be able to leave this place if she doesn’t get back?”

“I…I think someone in the staff will let me out. This is what these wristbands are for, right?” he held out his wrist to show the exact bands he was talking about.

Penelope smiled and gave a nod.

“That’s good, but you do know that this place gets pretty busy during the weekends. You might be here a while before anyone will have the time to let you out. If you need, I can phase you out of here.”

Owen was surprised at the woman’s kindness, this wasn’t what he expected from Ophelia’s depiction of her. But then again, why should he trust anything she says, she’s not even here.

“You would?”

“Of course, what kind of person would I be if I just left you here?”

Owen looked over to the direction Ophelia had left in.   
“I don’t know.”

* * *

After waiting another twenty minutes to no avail, Owen followed Penelope through the crowded dance hall and towards the curtain he had earlier came out of. The podium was empty, with the unfriendly ghost nowhere to be seen. She must be on break, or maybe she just finally quit and walked off, Owen wasn't sure.

He called Ophelia’s phone one more time only for it to go straight to voicemail.

“You ready to go?” Penelope asked, anxiously.

Owen looked at his phone. Disappearing on him was one thing, but not answering his calls? Something about it didn't seem right.

“I'm not sure I should leave,” he said.

“Why not!”

“Ophelia hasn’t called me back yet. She always answers her phone, and her parents don't allow her to turn it off. She must have lost it or broke it or something. This just doesn't seem right.”

“Would you answer your phone after you walked out on a date?”

“I don't know, I've never walked out on a date before.”

 “Well aren’t you the gentleman. Look, for most girls, that isn’t something easy for them to do. She’s probably too ashamed to talk to you right now. Or maybe she doesn’t care and is annoyed that you’ve been pestering her so much. Either way, she isn’t worth any more of your time.”

Owen looked back at the curtain separating them from the music and crowds. He knew what she was saying was probably true, but something just didn’t seem right. He may not know a lot about Ophelia, but from what he did know she would never disappear in her friends without an explanation…but what if that wasn’t even true about her? What if it was an act she put on to get people to like her? Is there anything he knows about her that is true? Did he just see who the real Ophelia was?

Owen turned back and stared back at the wall.   
  
“Fine, let’s go. If she wants to explain herself she can do it at school.”

 Penelope gave him a strange smile. Clearly, she was happy, but something about it told him it wasn’t for him. Like she had accomplished something.

“I’m proud of you. Now, if you could turn off your Spector Deflector I can phase us out.”  
  
“Sure”  
  
He turned the buckle of his belt, just as Mrs. Fenton had showed him. He didn’t realize that the belt was humming this whole time until died out along with the lights.

“Okay, it’s o-“

Before he knew it, he was being lifted from under his shoulders and flying through the air. He was going through walls and hallways in a dark blur. By the time his brain could make any reaction they were already outside on the street. The moment he was released from whatever was holding him, he fell to his knees. He couldn’t pull himself up, his legs were completely turned to jelly. His heart was pounding in his chest and ringing in his ears. He had a hard time breathing normally. Was this hyperventilating?

“Sorry about that” he heard a female voice say, “I forgot how delicate you humans are.”  
  
“It’s…okay,” He said while gasping.  

She went over and kneeled next to him, keeping a reassuring hand on his back.

“I would have thought you’d be used to it from all the times she carried you around.”

Owen turned looked over to her. It was strange how he forgot  who he was with.

“She….hasn’t.”

Penelope looked surprised.   
  
“Huh, I thought even as a friend she would give you a ride or two. She really held out on you, didn’t she?”

“If this is what she was holding out on….I forgive her.”

Penelope laughed with the same kindness as her previous smile.

“Nobility and humor, it’s hard to believe that anyone would leave you.”

Owen, after he finally regained control over his breathing, smiled.

“Thanks,” he said. His smile faded, “Why did she disappear?”

Owen sat back on the ground, and at the risk of dirtying her beautiful dress, Spectra sat with him. Her arm around his shoulder like his mother would to comfort him.

“Sweetie, I don’t know why anyone would abandon their date, but it’s usually not without reason. Is there anything you did that you think would make her ditch you?”

Her question caught him by surprise. It wasn’t something he’d expect an adult to say, especially not one who’s trying to help him.

“You think it’s _my_ fault?”

“Hey, hey, I’m not blaming you for what she’s done, I just think it will help explain it. Everybody’s got flaws, kid, even ghosts. Maybe you made a mistake without even knowing it at the time. Just look back on tonight and think really hard, did you do anything wrong?”

Did he do anything wrong? He must have, why else would she leave? He played through the date in his head, but couldn’t find anything that could have upset her in any way. Then why did she leave? The more he went through the night, the harder it was to ignore the obvious reason.

“It wasn’t what I did,” Owen said, “it’s me.”

He sunk his head into his knees. Penelope hugged him tighter.

“Why of course it isn’t you. True, you are only a human while she’s spent most of her life socializing with ghosts, you know nothing about ghosts, and you aren’t what Western society generally calls ‘good looking’, but I don’t believe those are reasons to not like you.”

“No, no, it’s true. I knew from the moment I met her that she was out of my league and yet I went for her anyway. Tonight must have brought her to her senses. I was an idiot to think she would be into a guy like me.”

He had never thought of himself like this before, but now it was painfully obvious. Every flaw, every mistake, every last negative trait seemed to be magnified, with any positive aspect nowhere to be seen.

“I’m a wreck, I’m a loser. I don’t know why anyone would put up with a pathetic schmuck like me, let alone Ophelia.  Why should I deserve to be with anyone?”

“It’s alright, let it all out.”

He felt like he was sinking into dark waters, with the sun getting further and further away. He could not remember a time where he had felt so purely and intensely sad.  It hurt, a deep and sickening kind of hurt that sat in his chest like a stone. And he let it sit there, because he knew somehow he deserved it.

“Leave him alone!”

A flash of green flew by right over his head, knocking Penelope away from him. His head felt too heavy to lift so he ignored it, he’s probably too dumb to understand it anyway. He heard a small patter of footsteps head towards him and someone knelt to his side.   
  
“Owen, are you okay?”

“Why should you care?” he asked, honestly not sure what the answer was.

“What are you talking about, of course I care.” The voice was louder, calling out to someone further away from them. “You evil witch! What did you do to him!”

“I only voiced what he was too afraid to think, just like I did with you.”

“Oh god”

Someone was tapping the side of his face, shaking him. Did they think he was asleep?

“Owen, Owen listen to me, whatever she said to you don’t listen. She’s just using your own insecurities against you so she can feed off your misery. Owen? Owen please listen to me.”

“Why should he? From what he’s told me you’ve never said anything of meaning. Why don’t you tell him anything about yourself, I thought you cared about him.”

“You shut up, just shut up or so help me I’m throwing you straight into the Ghost Zone!”  
  
“Oh please, we both know you don’t have the backbone. The only way you can harm a person is by caring about them.”  
  
“I said _shut up!_ ”   
  
Another bright green flash. “ _Oof!_ ” The sound of something crashing hard. He felt something icy on the sides of his face. He lifted his head, and he saw the brilliant pair of eyes he’s seen in his dreams.

“Owen, listen to me, I know you feel alone right now, and that no one cares about you, but that is not true. You are the kindest, funniest, smartest boy I’ve ever met, and there’s no one that I would rather be with.”

Did she mean it? She left him alone without warning, is he really supposed to believe her now? Why was she even bothering with him?

“Owen, please answer me.”

He said nothing. He was too sad to speak. Little arms wrapped around him and her head was on his chest.

“This is my fault, I shouldn’t have left you alone. I should have told you more about Spectra, I should have told you more about everything. I’m so sorry, Owen.”

Her words echoed in Owen’s mind. He could hear the sadness in her voice. She was really worried for him. She wouldn’t worry if she didn’t care. He was rising from the dark waters, he could see the sun.   
  
Owen hugged her back, startling her.

“Where have you been?” he asked.

Ophelia pulled away to look at him. Misty eyed and smiling, she wrapped her arms around her neck and held him tighter.

* * *

The moment they were sure Spectra was gone, they took Darcy’s scooter (which was fortunately unscathed) and headed straight home. On the way Ophelia explained what had happened.

“When I got out of the bathroom, these two hulking ghosts were waiting for me. Apparently Baylock was in the club tonight, and he found out that I was there two. The hulking ghosts were my ‘escorts’ out. I wanted to call you, but those thugs smashed my phone while they were hauling me out. I didn’t know what to do so I waited outside hoping one of the staff would let you out. In retrospect, I guess Spectra tipped him off to get rid of me and get to you. I’m really sorry about everything, I shouldn’t have left you there.”

“It’s alright, Phé, I should have listened to you about Spectra. It was just…she said a lot of things that makes sense, you know? Like she knows exactly which buttons to push.”

“Yeah, I know exactly the feeling. She did that to me when I was little, she plays on those little insecurities you didn’t even know you had and builds on it until it swallows you whole. If it wasn’t for my babysitter convincing her to undo what she did to me, I don’t know what would happen to me.”

They were quiet for most of the ride. It wasn’t long before they pulled up in the sidewalk between their houses. Ophelia got off the scooter, her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes fixed on the ground.  

“I’m sorry I ruined our date tonight. I knew you put in a lot of effort to make this night perfect and you were almost rendered catatonic with misery.”  
  
“That wasn’t your fault, in fact if it wasn’t for you I would still be on that sidewalk.”

Ophelia shook her head.

“No, no, it may have been harsh but what she said about me is true. I haven’t been treating you right and you deserve better. It’s just…I’ve spent my life thinking that if I let anyone get close to me something bad would happen. When I was with Richard, I thought I was finally safe to open up, but then of course he proves all my fears to be true. I know you’re not like that, and I know that I can actually trust you but…I just choke on the words.”   
  
She looked up at him. There was so much sadness in her eyes, the kind he was quite sure he had felt earlier that night.

“You don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to kiss you, I mean really kiss you. But I know if I did I would have to let you in to secrets that I have never told anyone, not even my parents. It’s a deep, deep bond that Richard betrayed, and those wounds have only just scabbed over. It’s like I’m on the wrong side of a magnet, and every time I try to get close to you, something in me pushes me away. You shouldn’t have to deal with any of this, and you shouldn’t have to wait until my problems sort themselves out. You should be with someone who you won’t put you in jeopardy like I did. I promise, I’ll try to let you into my life more. I’ll tell you all the little details about me just as you’ve told me about you. I care about you, Owen, and I want to make this work, but if you don’t want to wait for me to figure myself out, I’ll understand.”

Ophelia turned toward her house and was about to walk away. Owen caught her by her hand.

“Whoa, whoa, wait, I don’t want to break up with you. We had one bad date, that doesn’t mean we should end a relationship. I might be curious about your life, but I’m not going to push you on every last detail if you’re not ready. I care for you, Ophelia, I want to be with you. If that means giving you a hand to hold then I’ll do that.”

Ophelia smiled, her eyes glossy and shimmering. She crushed the air out of him in a hug.

“You really are the sweetest boy I’ve met. I promise to pay you back for the bill.”

“Don’t worry about it, I only had to pay ten dollars for the cup.”

“How about I pay for the next date?”

Owen pulled away and smiled.

“Sure, but how about we wait a little while on the second date. I need to rest this one off.”

Ophelia laughed. She put a palm to her mouth and kissed. She held it out for him to shake.  
  
“It’s a date then.”

Owen kissed his hand before he shook hers.

“It’s a date.”

“I better go inside, Mom must be getting anxious by now and Abi must be dying to hear about what happened tonight. I’ll save the juicy bits for school on Monday.”

They gave each other one last hug and bade goodnight. Owen stayed by the fence and watched as Ophelia walked to her front door. He remembered his dad telling him once about how gentlemen always wait until their date have safely entered their home before doing so themselves. Ophelia opened the front door and turned back to him. She gave him a wave goodnight, which he happily returned. As soon as the door closed behind her, he turned around and dragged Darcy’s scooter into his backyard. He’ll expect to see Darcy early tomorrow morning to get her scooter back, along with Mick and Wal asking him about the details and possibly Abi after Ophelia didn’t satisfy her curiosity. He wasn’t sure if he’ll be up by then, the exhaustion from the whole night was finally kicking in and it felt like it’ll be Monday before he’ll be able to drag himself out of bed. And if he did manage to get up by tomorrow, he wasn’t sure what he was going to tell them. It wasn’t what he expected, that was for sure, but it wasn’t completely ruined either. All-in-all, he thought it was a good first date, and he hoped Ophelia felt the same way as well. More importantly, he hoped the second date will be a lot smoother.


	24. The Big Chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophelia's ice powers come in.

Ophelia held the bathrobe tightly over herself as she watched the bathwater run. It seemed like the only time she felt warm nowadays was when she took a bath in water hot enough to boil lobsters. She took them every night before bed in place of showers, possibly the one bright side she’s seen out of this whole affair.

She sensed her mother come into the house as she turned off the faucet. Ever since the Evacuation, human-ghost crimes had gone up exponentially, which just happened to be her mother’s department. Because of this, her mother had to work late at the office each night. When she finally came home, she would be tired and stressed, more than Ophelia had ever seen before. Thankfully, a few ADAs from other departments had stepped in to help lighten her caseload a bit. But then that stress was replaced with the worry of those ADAs having to manage cases they never had experience in.

Ophelia heard the front door open followed by the sound of clicking heels and clattering keys. She heard her dad’s footsteps as he went to greet her mom. Ophelia could hear them clear as day despite being in separate floors.  
  
“Hey honey,” she heard her dad say, “How was your day?”  
  
“A little less horrible than the day before,” her mom said grouchily.   
  
 “Ophelia and I had dinner already, it should still be warm if you’re hungry.”

“No thanks, I ate at the office…” she was quiet for a moment as she closed the door, “Where’s Ophelia?”   
  
“She’s taking a bath, why?”

Ophelia’s heart leapt in her chest at the sound of her name, and the fact that she couldn’t hear her mother talking did nothing to calm her nerves.

“I talked to Natalie today…”

Ophelia stopped breathing. Natalie Fleming was one of her mother’s oldest friends in the human-ghost crimes department, having known each other since before they moved away. She was also the prosecutor assigned to the many charges against Vlad Masters.

“What’s the news?” her father said, his tone hushed and serious.

“She’s still negotiating with his lawyers, but it looks like he’s going to plea out on all the charges. Arraignment’s scheduled for the end of the week.”

“So she doesn’t need us to testify?”

“We might have to speak at the sentencing hearing, but so far it looks good. We might not even have to put Ophelia on the stand.”

She could practically hear her father’s sigh of relief.

“Good, she’s been through enough. We don’t need to put her through any more than we have to.”

Ophelia couldn’t help but smile. After all these years, justice was finally being served. The nightmare that had terrorized her family for years was coming to an end.  It was as if a great weight was being lifted from her shoulders and now her feet couldn’t touch the ground. She could not remember a time when she had felt this relieved or happy in her life.

“We shouldn’t tell Ophelia yet.”

With that statement, Ophelia was brought back to Earth.  
  
“I was going to suggest that myself,” her mother told her father, “This just seems too good to be true.”

“It is,” her father said, “Vlad would try to fight each charge tooth and nail, there’s no way he’d give up so easily.”

“I’ve read up on those lawyers he hired, they are not the kind you pay ridiculous amounts of money for just to sit there and listen to plea bargains. He’s up to something, and we shouldn’t get her hopes up just so it can be torn down by whatever trick he’s got up his sleeve. We shouldn’t say anything until after arraignment.”

Could they be right? Could Vlad be up to something? Well, of course, he’s _always_ up to something. He was probably planning on escaping out of prison, and wanted to get the court process out of the way so no one would pay so much attention to him. But then what about the lawyers? Are they just for show? He could certainly afford a decorative set of defense attorneys, but he could have easily defended himself with the same amount of flare.    
  
Ophelia blocked out those thoughts. What was important was that Vlad was locked away, and nothing was going to change that. He wouldn't be able to get to her family again.   
With that thought, she took off her robe and eased herself into the bath. Almost immediately, the ever-present chill melted away. Her skin pleasantly tingled from the hot water. She sunk herself deeper into the water as she let herself relax.

The last time Ophelia would ever have to see that man will be when she tells a judge and jury why he should never see the light of day again.

But what exactly was she going to say?

Her whole body tensed at the thought. She’d have to explain to strangers all the times Vlad had made attempts at her life. How he had terrorized her. Of how her family couldn’t stay at one place for too long in fear that he might find them and come after them again. All those nights Ophelia stayed up in fear of him grabbing her in her sleep. And then there were the scars…

A chill went down her spine. Would she have to talk about the scars? Would she have to explain how she got them? Would it hurt her case if she explained why they couldn’t see them? She could feel herself going into a panic attack. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. That wasn’t going to happen, Ophelia told herself, her mother just said they might not even need her to speak by how the negotiations are going. Her parents speaking may be enough.

Deep breath…  
  
Even if she didn’t say it, people would still know what he did to her, and what she’s been like as a result. And Vlad would be there, reveling at the fact that he had been able to cause so much damage to her family.

Red and black flashes went across her eyes… The sound of a little girl’s screams…Bodies on the floor…

Her entire body went into an icy numbness. Ophelia couldn’t move. As much as she tried, she couldn’t get any air into her lungs or get any out.  
  
She opened her eyes, but couldn’t see much with her eyes just above water.  Ophelia noticed that the water wasn’t making any ripples. A drop fell from the faucet on the other side and hit the surface with a soft thud.

What the?

She tried to sit up but found she could not move a muscle. She turned herself intangible and pulled herself out of the bathtub, taking in the air with a gasp. Her muscles were now freed, but she was shivering all over. She quickly covered herself with her robe before inspecting the tub. 

“Oh, c-c-c-come on!”

The entire bath was frozen solid. A hollow mold of where her body was took her place. She placed her hand over the surface to make sure it was real and found herself stuck to the ice. She phased herself off and took a step back.   
  
“N-no, no, n-no, not n-now,” she stuttered to herself. “I can’t have th-this n-now.”

She had been feeling her ice powers come in for a while now. Originally she had thought it was just her ghost sense getting worse, but when she froze her drink on her date with Owen there was no way to ignore it. She thought it would straighten itself out and she would be able to hone it like she had with the rest of her powers, but instead it was starting to get worse.

She jumped a full foot into the air when she heard a knock on the bathroom door.

“Ophelia, honey,” her mother’s voice said,  “Is everything okay in there?”

Ophelia started to panic. She couldn't have her ice powers now! Everyone was already stressed out from this whole Vlad thing! The last thing they needed was to have to go out of their way to help her control a new power!

“Yeah Mom,” Ophelia shouted, “I’m f-f-fine”   
  
She winced at her stutter. There was no way her mom wouldn’t catch that.

“You don’t sound fine. Do you need me to come in there?”

The doorknob rattled as her mother tried to get in. Ophelia was very thankful that she remembered to lock the door.  
  
“No, Mom, I’m f-f-fine. I’m f-f-fourteen years old, I think I can take a b-b-bath by my-s-s-self.”   
  
_Why did I say that!_ She scolded herself.

“Ophelia, let me in or I’ll have your father phase the lock.”

What was she going to do? There was no way she could use her ghost ray to melt all that ice before her mother could get in.

“That’s it, I’m coming in!”  
  
Ophelia’s heart stopped. Without a single thought, she kicked the block of ice with an intangible foot. The ice turned intangible in contact with the foot. The block flew through the bathtub and the wall attached to it, falling outside the second floor of the house. It hit the ground with a strange but loud thud at the same time the bathroom door clicked open. Her mother burst through the door, a haggard yet angry look in her eye. Her father hung back by the doorframe, exclaiming that he was “Not looking!” with his hand over his eyes.

“Ophelia, what is going on?” her mother said, her voice just a decibel below shouting.  
  
“N-n-nothing,” Ophelia said, “just finished taking my b-bath, now I’m going to head off to bed.”  
  
“Already?” her dad said, his hand still over his eyes, “You couldn’t have been in the bathroom for more than ten minutes.”

“You can open your eyes, Danny, she’s in a robe.” Her mom told her dad.   
  
Her dad opened a gap between his fingers to check. Once he saw that everyone in the room was properly covered he uncovered his face.

Ophelia shrugged, though with her shivering it was hard to tell.

“I thought Mom might want t-t-the bathtub herself to relax, s-s-since work has been crazy and a-a-all.”

Her mom was not convinced, that was obvious. However, she seemed to be letting it slide as she gave a warm smile.

“Aww, that’s sweet of you, honey.” She rested her hands on Ophelia’s shoulders as she gave her a kiss on her forehead. She pulled away with a concerned and curious expression.

“Oh, honey, you’re getting so cold it stings. Are you sure you’re alright?”  
  
Ophelia rolled her eyes. Even if her mother’s concerns were completely accurate, it didn’t make them any less annoying.

“I’m fine, mom, r-r-really. I’m n-n-no better off than I’ve b-b-been since the evacuation. W-w-why aren’t you worried about D-d-dad as much as you d-d-do me?”

“Because I don’t shiver so hard I stutter.” Her dad answered. “And I have fully developed ice core and mastered my powers.”

Ophelia groaned. She shook her mother’s hands from her shoulders and started to head out of the room.  
  
“I’m just c-c-c-cold from getting out of the b-b-bath, th-th-that’s all. I-I-I’m going to get ch-ch-changed into something warm and go to b-b-bed.”

She passed her dad on her way out and rushed to her room. She heard her mom cry out “Ophelia!” before she slammed the door behind her.

* * *

“They won’t even tell you about the arraignment?”

Ophelia gave Owen a nod. As part of her agreement to open up to him, she told him what had happened the night before as they walked to school. However, she had yet to tell him about the bathtub. She didn’t think she should open up that much. 

“They think Vlad might be up to something, and they don’t want to get my hopes up in case he does something. Honestly, I don’t blame them, he’s pulled the rug under us few times before, but they should have told me. No matter what he takes to trial, he’s going to be convicted for enough crimes that will put him away for a long time.”  
  
“I think they’re more worried about how you might feel about all this. I mean, from what I’ve heard, every time you’ve seen him he almost killed you-“

Ophelia stopped in her tracks. Her eyes flashed as she glared at him.   
  
“What have you heard?” she snapped at him.   
  
Owen, startled, taking a step back.

“Nothing, nothing,” he stammered out, “only what you’ve told me.”

Ophelia stopped herself to process what he had just said. She blinked the light out of her eyes, ashamed.

“Right, right, sorry. I get kind of ….when it comes to Vlad. I guess this is what they were worried what would happen if they told me.”

Owen gave her a kind smile and took a hesitant step towards her.

“It’s okay, I get it-“  
  
“You don’t get it, you can’t…” She looked at the pavement ahead of them, her eyes dim. “No one can.”

Owen took her hand, she could feel some slight warmth coming from him through her glove. It felt nice even if her hands still felt cold.

“We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to. I’m glad you’re willing to share with me, but I don’t want you to say anything that will hurt you.”

Ophelia looked up at him and smiled. She gave his hand a squeeze.  
  
“No, it’s fine, really. I mean, yeah, it’s still tough trying to tell you things, like real things. But when I’m finally able to choke it out I feel, I don’t know, better. It’s nice being able to talk to someone about things like this, I mean have someone who actually wants to hear it.”

Owen smiled.

“I’m glad you feel that way”  
  
They were quiet for a while as they walked to school, holding hands the whole way. Ophelia wondered if she should try to start up a conversation, but there was something nice about the silence. She was perfectly content just being there in that moment, as mundane as it was. She could see that Owen liked it too, if not worried if she herself liked it as he always does.

Owen finally broke the silence when they made it to the front of the school.

“Listen, if you do have to go to court…do you think you’ll need me there?“

Every muscle in Ophelia’s body tensed, despite herself.

“You-you want to be there?”

It was clear that Owen saw her reaction. His cheeks were flushed as he stared down at no particular thing.

“Well, yeah, as support.” He stammered, “I thought, maybe, it would be nice for you to have someone you know out there in the… what are those seat the that regular people sit in?” his hands drew out a box shape in the air while he tried to think of his answer.

“You mean the gallery?” Ophelia said with a giggle.

“Right, the gallery. And you know it doesn’t have to be just me, I can get our friends to come too. I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed a pale, pale green. She bit into the corner of her lip.  It was one thing to tell her story in front of strangers, in front of Vlad. But having Owen there to hear it…

“Honestly, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

Owen frowned. There was that sad look in his eye that gave her a sharp pang in her heart whenever she saw it.

“I appreciate the gesture,” she added, “but it’s…I won’t be able to …you don’t want to hear what I’ll have to say.”

“It’s not about what I want, it’s about what will help you. I don’t want you to feel alone in there.”

Ophelia’s chest tightened. How could she explain it to him? That him being there will make it worse? How could she talk it out of him without hurting his feelings? Seeing that sad look brought back the image of the week before, of what Spectra did to him. She didn’t want him to feel like that again.

She felt cold, a sharp, painful cold. It was hard to breathe.

Before she could say anything, the school bell rang. Ophelia's chest still stung as she breathed a sigh of relief.

“We got to get to class.” she said. “I’ll see you at lunch, okay?”

Owen nodded and gave a not too enthusiastic smile.   
  
“Okay, I’ll see you later.”

They gave each other a hug before he left for class. Ophelia hung back, needing a moment to calm herself down. She closed her eyes and took deep, prickly breaths. Ophelia couldn’t go into class looking shell shocked, she didn’t have the strength to convince another person that she was okay. But she was okay, wasn’t she? Nobody’s trying to kill her, nobody’s threatening her, so then why did she feel like this? How could even good news involving Vlad send her into an anxiety attack? This is what Vlad wanted. He had gotten so far into her head that he could terrify her from his prison cell.

 _He can’t hurt me,_ Ophelia thought to herself, _He can’t hurt anyone again. Nothing will ever hurt me again._

And with that thought, her lungs stopped hurting and she felt a little less cold. She smiled and opened her eyes. She took a step towards the school and suddenly lost traction. She slipped and fell hard onto the ground.  
  
“Okay, maybe I spoke too soon on that last part.” She grumbled to herself.

Ophelia looked down at the ground. She found herself sitting on top of a thick layer of frost. She let out a loud groan. _Of course._ Slowly and carefully, Ophelia picked herself up from the ground.

“At least it’s already melting.”

She stomped on the ice until it cracked to pieces before running to class. 

* * *

Ophelia could not recall a time when she had ever been as focused on her classes as she was now. Then again, she had never needed something to distract herself as she did today. She couldn't think about the arraignment while taking copious notes on Newton’s Laws, nor could she worry about freezing things while learning about the Fall of the Roman Empire and noting the difference in details from the stories from the Roman ghosts she’s come across. Before she knew it, she was one class away from lunch period. Unfortunately, that class was P.E.

She didn’t mind the class itself, in fact she found the exercise rather helpful in relieving stress, despite the strict limitations on her abilities. She didn’t even mind having to wear the same sweaty clothes five days a week. No, the one problem she had with this class was that Coach Baxter was the one teaching it. He was one of those teachers whom no one could tell whether he worked his students hard to see them excel or to take some kind of sadistic joy in their suffering. Except for Ophelia, it was quite clear to everyone he wanted to make her suffer. She was always the one he “volunteered” to demonstrate exercises, and she was always the one he pointed out when she made errors, no matter how small. He always made her wear her cuff to his classes and would dock points from her grade if she forgot to bring it or if it wasn’t fully charged. He said it was to make sure she didn’t have an unfair advantage over the other students, but she had a feeling that it wasn’t the only reason. She had to work harder than anyone in her class, maybe even more than anyone in the history of Casper High, to earn a passing grade. If it wasn’t for him, P.E. probably would have been her favorite class…well, him and Francis, who had been put in her class after a promotion to an advanced math class changed his schedule around.

She paid no attention to anything around her as she made her way into the locker room. She took her balled up gym uniform from the back of her locker and shoved her backpack in its place. She was peeling through her layers of winter wear when someone caught her attention.

“Hey, which do you think I should wear?”    

Ophelia looked over to Abi, who was holding up two different swimsuits with their school’s colors.

“I like the vintage one since it exaggerates my curves, but the lacey one makes me look taller and Todd Riley likes tall girls so-“

“Why are you showing me these?” Ophelia interrupted.

Abi paused, confused and slightly indignant.  
  
“Um, because you’re my friend and I value your opinion?”

“No, I mean, why are you showing me swimsuits, it’s almost winter.”

Abi pursed her lips.

“Don’t you remember? It’s Swim Gym, we’re going to be in the pool for the next month.”

Ophelia froze.

“Swim Gym!”

She was so preoccupied with everything that has been going on, she had completely forgotten about Swim Gym. Out of all the things to forget, she forgot about Swim Gym.

A small feeling of panic was rising into Ophelia’s chest.

“Oh man, what am I going to do! I can’t go in the water!”

Abi seemed to have understood the dilemma, sharing the same level of panic as she felt.  
  
“Oh my gosh, right! Your chills! You can barley keep yourself from hypothermia in all those coats, but in a one piece in tepid water. You’ll freeze yourself solid!”

 _That’s not the only thing I’m going to freeze._ Ophelia thought.

“Baxter’s not going to hear me out about it either, not without a doctor’s note.”

“Why didn’t you get one? Baxter told us about it since last week.”

“Yeah, I know that,” Ophelia snapped. “I just forgot, okay? Things have been crazy at my house, we have all been worked through-“  
  
“Okay, okay, forget I said anything.” Abi held up her hands defensively. When the tension had decreased, Abi lowered her hands and added. “I could get my mom to write you a note, since you are technically her patient, but you wouldn’t get it until tomorrow.”

“Could you have your mom write it up for me anyway? Maybe if I tell him a note is on the way he’ll give me a pass.”

“The way he works you, he owes you a week of free passes.”

“Only a week?”

They both laughed.

* * *

 

Ophelia phased through the door leading to the school’s swimming pool, being too cold and nervous to bother with the door. Half the class, mostly boys, were already out on the bleachers waiting for class to start. Some of those kids, mostly girls, wrapped themselves with their towels or jackets, from a chill or from insecurity. Without trying, she spotted Francis sitting in the center of the bleachers. He had a sweatshirt on, but didn’t seem to be bothered by what others might see. Although he was talking to other boys, he managed to sport that same insufferable scowl he’s had on since they got home from the Pacific Coast and his parents took away his phone, his tablet, and all his other tech as punishment. There were moments where Ophelia almost felt sorry for her god-brother, he was practically suffering withdrawal without his electronics, but then she’d remember all the things he had done and that he deserved all he gets.

She found Coach Baxter on the other end of the bleachers. He was surrounded by kids both in their normal clothes and in their swimsuits. Looks like she wasn’t the only one trying to stay out of the water. She waited until the crowd had thinned out before going up to Baxter. He looked at her with a tired and annoyed expression.   
  
“Oh great, it’s you. Alright, Phantom, let’s hear your excuse.”

Ophelia tried to suppress the irritation she felt for her P.E. teacher. She had to play nice or risk freezing herself, and possible her whole entire class, solid.

“Hello, Mr. Baxter,” she said in a voice as artificially sweet as her forced smile. “I’d love to start your swimming program, but I’m very sorry to say that I can’t get in the water. You see, I’m having this problem with my body-“  
  
Baxter rolled her eyes.  
  
“Do you know how many girls have come to me with that excuse? I told everyone last week, you can swim no matter where you are on your cycle. If your cramps are that bad, you can get something from the nurse’s office.”

Ophelia became invisible by the sheer embarrassment and discomfort.

“Not like that!” She said a little too loudly. In a more indoor appropriate voice, she explained, “I mean, my dad and I have been having this problem with our body temperature since all the ghosts evacuated to Earth. I'm just above freezing with all the coats I have on but if I go to the water I might get hypothermia.”

Baxter glared at her, not looking the least bit convinced by her story. He smirked and let out a quiet snort.

“Heh, you can't swim in room temperature water because you might freeze to death? I’ve got to admit, I was expecting a wild one, but this is a bizarre excuse even by your standards.”

“But it's true.”

“Then you won't mind showing me your doctor’s note.”

Where heat would have risen to her face, chills came instead. She could feel the cold rise up along with her nerves, just like they did last night and earlier that day.

“I-I don't have it-“

“It's my fault!”

Abi rushed to her side.

“She’s one of my mom’s patients. I was supposed to bring the note with me to school but I forgot. You’ll have it by tomorrow, though.”

Coach Baxter didn’t look any less convinced.   
  
“Uh-huh, and I presume the note will have your mother’s ‘left handed’ signature that just happens to look like your handwriting? It didn’t work for you, de Fleur, and it isn’t going to work for your friends either.”

“That was one time!” Abi protested, her face bright red,  “And this is the truth. Ophelia’s going to end up in the hospital if she gets in the water.”

 _And possibly a whole bunch of other kids._ Ophelia thought to herself.

“Sorry girls, you know the rules, unless I have a note in my hand no one is excused from participating.”

“Then don’t excuse me,” Ophelia said, “mark me off for the day. Heck, you can give me detention if you want, I am _not_ getting into the water.”

“Whoops!”

Ophelia felt a hard shove at her side. She didn’t catch it in time to phase and was sent back towards the edge of the pool. She tried to regain balance but was failing miserably. She caught a glimpse of people’s faces before she fell in. Coach Baxter seemed to be internally debating whether or not to laugh, Abi was ready to go into a panicked frenzy, and Francis, now standing in the spot where Ophelia was,  gave her a devious smirk.

_Splash!_

The water, though somewhat warm to any other human being, felt like pure ice to Ophelia. Every muscle in her body spasmed and contracted from the cold. Even her lungs stiffened, stinging, making it impossible to breathe. She could not move, not even a nanometer, she could only sink to and hopefully phase through the bottom. She tried to keep the cold in but it was a futile effort. It leaked out of her, no, it rushed out of her in seconds. She didn’t reach halfway towards the bottom of the pool before she was caught in place, the entire body of water having frozen solid.

The need for air outranked the numbing pain of the cold. She turned herself intangible and shot up out of the ice. Within a second she had hit the surface, taking in the air with a loud gasp. Making herself solid, she crumbled onto the surface of the block of ice that had once been the school’s swimming pool. She held herself, curled up in a tight ball, in an instinctive yet futile effort to keep in what little warmth she still had. She never knew what it meant to shiver violently until this moment.  She caught glimpses of exposed skin and found that she had turned blue.

She soon remembered she wasn’t alone in the room. She looked up. Abi had her hands over her mouth in shock, utterly terrified for her friend. Francis and Coach Baxter looked horrified too, but she had a feeling their worries were for themselves and the consequences that would await them rather than whether or not she herself was okay. The rest of the class was in a stunned silence, none having a clue of what had just happened and what to make of it. Whatever their feelings were, all eyes, and a few phones, were on Ophelia.   
  
_Perfect._

* * *

Danny had a plan today. He had already called Sam’s boss saying that he was going to take her out to lunch for an hour or two, to which the esteemed, duly elected District Attorney of Amity Park told him “you can keep her for the whole day, that woman needs to relax.” He was going to surprise Sam at the office and take her out to lunch. He knew she would say no, that she had twenty cases to deal with today, that she was too busy to breathe, let alone eat. He’d tell her that even prosecutors got to eat, and that she owed the People to represent them in her best shape, not half-starved, sleep-deprived and perhaps a little cranky. She needed to unwind, the cases can wait a day. Any other day, Sam would fight him on it, stubbornly staying glued to her seat and going through her case files while arguing with him. The argument would last her whole workday, if she felt like dragging it out, and she would ultimately come out the clear winner of the verbal skirmish. But today, after over a month of unending trials and plea bargains and sentencing hearings, after over a month of half meals and inefficient sleep that left dark rings around her eyes that no concealer can hide and could barely be pulled off in her peculiar yet somehow professional-looking gothic style; today, she could only muster a half-hearted “no” before being dragged her away from the desk.

It was an unseasonably warm day, probably the last before winter buries the town in ice and snow, so Danny thought to take advantage of it with a picnic in the park. She’ll talk about work in between bites of her favorite dishes from her favorite vegan restaurant in town (the one where even carnivorous Tucker couldn’t help but like on the handful of times they had dragged him along), most likely complaining about all the things she would have worked on if she wasn’t here and all the things she’ll have to rearrange and make up for when she went back to the office. He would listen to her with patience and admiration, as he really did like hearing about her work. It was like that old show _Law and Order_ except easier to follow and with ghosts. The conversation would soon drift off from the courthouse to other things, their home life, their family, Tucker and Valerie, and maybe even some old things they haven’t even thought about in a long time. By the time they had gotten to desert (soy chocolate custard pie with vegan marshmallows baked on top), she would have completely unwound and enjoyed herself. She might even take the DA’s offer and take the rest of the day off.

Danny had a plan today, and it took only one phone call from Casper High for it to completely fall apart.

They had Ophelia in the nurse’s office, buried under every blanket the school had in their possession. She was shivering and blue, her eyes had turned blue as well. Her breath came out in a thick fog that made Danny think of the caterpillar from _Alice in Wonderland_. The room felt ten degrees colder than the hallway outside, despite the nurse’s insistence that he had turned on the heat for her, including a few plug-in space heaters that were huddled around the outlets closest to Ophelia. Poor thing, Danny thought upon seeing her, he's been there.

After a conversation with the vice principal turned into a shouting match with Baxter, Danny grabbed Ophelia and led her out of the school. On the way, students in the hallway stared and whispered. Danny was used to this, kids would gawk at him every time he had to go to Ophelia’s school, but apparently the whispers weren’t about him this time. He found this out when two boys went up to Ophelia and sang “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” while laughing. These boys were quickly silenced when they saw the look in Danny’s glowing green eyes and raced off without looking at either him or Ophelia.

“How long?” Danny asked once they were in his car.

Ophelia looked down at the shaky blue hands she kept folded on her lap.  
  
“I-I’ve been cold since the E-evacuation,” she said through chattered teeth.

“But I’ve only s-started f-freezing things since my date with Owen.”

“That was over a week ago! How long were you planning on keeping this a secret from us?”

“F-for as long as you were planning on keeping V-vlad’s arraignment a secret from me.” Ophelia said bitterly.

The surprise of her words smacked Danny in the face. She must have overheard them talking last night.

“That’s different,” he argued indignantly, “withholding a court date won’t kill you. You should have told me about your ice powers the moment it happened.”

“Y-you and Mom have been so stressed out recently, I d-didn’t want to give you another thing to worry about.”

“Right, and letting yourself freeze to death would have worried us less.”

Ophelia stared out the window. She had that bitter, stubborn look he knew too well. She knew she was going to lose this fight, they both knew, but she will never admit she was wrong. He saw a lot of Sam in that look, and a little more of himself than he would be willing to admit.

Danny sighed.

“Look, I’m not mad-“

Ophelia peeled her eyes from the window to give him a look of disbelief.

“Okay, maybe I’m a little mad about you lying to me – lying by omission is still a lie so don’t even start - but I’m more worried than anything. You should have told me about this the moment it happened.”  
  
“I c-c-can h-h-handle it-“

“No, you can’t. You think you can, but you can’t. This isn’t like all the other times your powers came in, your ice core won’t just work itself out and you won’t be able to go around with a barely passable control of it. This is a very dangerous power, and it will only get worse if you don’t have the right people to help you…” Danny needed to take a deep breath, not only because he had went through that whole mini-lecture without once stopping for air, but because he needed to calm down. He never thinks clearly when he’s angry.

Why was this so hard? Why did she have to keep things from him? Didn't she know how lucky she is to have someone to talk to about this? Not like him at her age, who had no one to go to. Of course he had Sam and Tucker, and Jazz once he realized that she was there for him, but there was only so much they could understand without having powers themselves. The one person who did have powers like him he wouldn’t turn to even if his life depended on it (which, in fact, was the exact opposite of any scenario he was in involving Plasmius). Then there were his parents, who had devised uncountable ways to pull apart a ghost (he still shudders at the words “molecule by molecule”) it was no wonder that he never told them about his ghost half…the irony dawned on him in the way interstellar rocks dawned on dinosaurs.

“Listen,” Danny said, “I know you’re scared about all this. When my ice powers came in, I was scared too. It almost killed me because I didn’t know how to control it…that and the man-eating plants infesting the town but that’s another story. You shouldn’t be afraid to talk to me or your mother about anything. We love you, and there’s nothing you could ever do to change that…I hope you know that.”

He saw her eyes misting in the rearview mirror.   
  
“Of c-c-course I do!”

“Then why won’t you tell us when something goes wrong? Why do have to wait until something like this happens?”

Ophelia was fidgeting in her seat. She gave an odd shrug that almost looked like she was trying to wriggle out of her coat.

“I d-don’t know” she mumbled thought her chattering teeth. Danny knew that wasn’t true.

Danny wasn’t mad nor was he disappointed, he didn’t expect an answer anyway.

“We’ll talk about this later, all of us.”

* * *

There wasn’t a single inch of space on Sam’s desk that wasn’t covered in papers. She had to prep for three trials and write up the terms for a few plea bargains all before the end of the day. She couldn’t miss a single detail on anything or it may lead to a dangerous criminal being released back into the streets. She had completely forgotten about the lunch she had left to wilt at the corner of her desk, or even that she was a creature that needed to eat. While alone in that office, she was a well-oiled machine of justice.   

Yet, with all the cases she had to deal with, her attention was elsewhere. Despite not expecting a call from anyone, her eyes kept straying to her cell phone. Ever since Natalie told her about the upcoming arraignment, she almost expected a call telling her that something went wrong. She wanted more than anything for Vlad to plea out, just as he planned, and stay locked away in some cell for half a century. But she just knew it was all too good to be true. Vlad was up to something and it was only a matter of time before-

“Manson?”

Sam snapped out of her thoughts and cast her eyes to her doorframe to find Erin Ramis, District Attorney to Amity County and her boss, leaning against it, a large stack of files in her arms.

“What on earth are you still doing here?” asked DA Ramis.

“Where else am I supposed to be?”

“The mister called and asked me if he could steal you for lunch,” she glanced over to the neglected salad at the corner of the desk, “I hope that wasn’t what he had in mind.”

“Danny called you?” As if finally acknowledging that it was there, she quickly closed the partly broken plastic box and crammed the uneaten lunch in her bag. “I haven’t heard or seen from him since  this morning. How long ago was that?”

“Not long, just about…” DA Ramis took a quick look at her watch to be exact. Surprised, she took a second, longer look. “Two hours? Geez, where does the time go?”

 “Two hours?” Sam exclaimed in disbelief. She grabbed her phone and hit Danny’s speed dial. “I better call him.”  
  
“You do that,” said DA Ramis in a spacey way that let Sam know that she’s already drifted from the conversation, “I’ve got to go to a grand jury hearing…oh boy, and I should’ve been there five minutes ago. Keep up the good work, Manson.”

And with that, DA Ramis dashed from Sam’s office with as much speed twenty pounds of paper and a pair of loafers would allow.

It took about six rings before he answered the phone.

“Hey, Sam,” he greeted. It was in his fake cheery voice, the one he used when he just came out of an argument with someone.

“Danny, why did my boss just come into my office and ask me what I was still doing here?”

“Oh, yeah, about that-“

“Why does it sound like you’re in a hospital?”

“How can you even tell?”

“You and Ophelia have been in and out of doctor’s offices more times than Tucker’s been to steakhouses, I think I know what a hospital sounds like.”

She heard a faint laugh buzz through her phone, along with a small groan.

“Okay, we’re at a hospital, but everybody’s fine-“

“We? Who’s there with you?”

“Ophelia, the school called me. Apparently, she’s had her ice powers for a full two weeks without telling anyone. The only reason anyone knows now is because someone in her gym class shoved her into the pool and she froze it solid.”

Sam stared at her phone, unsure if she heard Danny right.

“She _froze_ a swimming pool solid?”

“She froze a swimming pool solid.”

“The whole thing, solid?”

“The whole thing, solid. And she almost froze the car on the way here. And now our super chilled Smurf baby is in a de-icing chamber before she ends up freezing herself solid.”

 Sam was quiet, trying to find the appropriate reaction to the news she just heard. On one hand, she was furious, downright upset. Once again, Ophelia was keeping something from her parents and once again she was the last to hear about it. She had no time for anything as of late, especially not for this brand of nonsense.

On the other had…

“You’re trying not to laugh right now, aren’t you?” she heard Danny say through the phone.

She put a hand tightly over her mouth, as if to keep in the giggles that were bubbling up to her lips. She was mad at herself for finding any humor in the situation, and mad at Danny for being able to tell.

“I must be going crazy from all this work to think any of this is funny.” Sam said once she subdued her urge to laugh.

“You’ve got to admit, it is a little funny,” Danny said with a chuckle, “At least I thought so once I calmed down a little. Could you imagine me doing something like that back in the day?”

That was it. With that one thought Sam lost control and broke down into a fit of giggles.

“Way too easily, didn’t you try do that for our senior prank?”

“Yeah, I’m glad you talked me out of that.”

Sam let herself calm down before she said anything more.

“Should we call in Frostbite?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I had always thought when this day came I would take her to the Far Frozen-“

“But that place has been evacuated along with the rest of the Ghost Zone.” It’s been well over a month since the Evacuation and she still couldn’t imagine that whole dimension completely vacant. Well, completely vacant save for the Ghost King and his army of barley sentient skeletons.

“Exactly, and I have no idea where Frostbite and his people went.”

“Maybe we should contact the Bureau or maybe the Observants, Frostbite would have to give his location to one of them because of the Infi-Map.”

 There was a small, suppressed groan on the other end.

“I was afraid you would suggest that. I’d rather not get any of them involved.”

“Neither would I, but unless you have a phone number or unless Frostbite has a Skype account, we’re going to have to contact them. Besides, the incident has probably gone viral by now so there’s no chance of keeping this from them.”

Danny breathed a laugh.

“Yeah, right, so glad we didn’t have tumblr in our day.”

“If there was, we would have lost Tucker to the Matrix – wait, did you just say ‘our day’?”

Of course, right when Sam had just calmed herself down, Danny had to say something as ridiculous as that to send her back into her fit of laughter. Danny laughed nervously, she could practically feel him blushing on the other end.

“Oh my god, Danny, don’t tell me we’re _that_ old! I thought we’ve got a good ten, twenty years before we could say stuff like ‘our day’.”

“Not like we’d ever look the part.”

Sam was quiet, her laughter dead in an instant.

“And whose fault is that?” she said, attempting at a mock accusation tone but instead sounded nervous.

Danny fell silent as well. That was always an awkward topic for them.

 “Anyway,” Sam said, changing the subject, “Frostbite”

“Right…so wherever he is, it will probably be sub-zero. I don’t think she’ll be in any condition to take her out to a place too cold, even with the de-icing chamber.  I mean, I was able to manage it at her age, but her physiology is different. Her core temperature is a full ten degrees lower than average. Her body might not react well to the cold…well, worse than it already is.”

“Okay, well I’ll go and head out now and we’ll talk about it more when I get to the hospital.”

“You don’t need to do that. We’re almost done here, anyway.”

“Okay, then I’ll see you at home. I’ll try to get out of work as early as possible.”

“That’s a first,” Danny joked, then more heartfelt he said. “I love you.”

Sam smiled. She heard once that when you use a word too often they lose their potency and become meaningless. She agreed to that statement except for one instance. Whenever Danny said “I love you” it felt the same to her as the first day she heard it. And she knew Danny felt the same way when she said the same thing back to him.

“I love you, too,” she replied, “see you at home.”

And with that, she hung up. She looked over her case files to see what exactly needed to be done now and what could wait until after she figured out her problem at home. As she did so, she thought over all the times Ophelia had acted strangely over the past few days. The ice powers would certainly explain why some of the plants had died when Ophelia last gardened with her, and why she hadn’t been in the greenhouse since then. And it would most certainly explain why she had avoided most things involving water besides the bath...Then Sam cracked up laughing when she realized where that big, deep mud puddle outside the bathroom window she spotted this morning had came from. Why was this so funny to her? Maybe she was more tired than she thought.

While trying to stifle a laugh, she spotted her friend and colleague Natalie at the door. Sam’s laughter died immediately when she saw the nervous look on Natalie’s face. Since she was the prosecutor in charge of Vlad’s case, this could not be good news.

“Hey Natalie, what’s wrong?”

Natalie took a moment to speak, having been out of breath from running here Sam realized.

“I promised to keep you up to date on the case and I'm living up to it. We need to get to the courthouse right now.”

Sam immediately got to her feet. A feeling of dread hit the pit of her stomach, it was as if she swallowed rocks.

“What? Why?”

“I'll explain on the way, just hurry, I need to be there in fifteen minutes.”

Sam didn't bother to question it, and Natalie didn't bother to wait to answer anyway. With lightening speed, she grabbed her jacket and her case and hurried after her friend, leaving her case files and browning lunch on her desk.

* * *

The de-icing process took no less than an hour; it was the Bureau and Observant agents that held them up in the hospital for the rest of the afternoon. Danny had to answer question after question, all the while keeping their attention away from asking Ophelia herself. This wasn't just because he did not trust either agencies with his daughter, even if they claim it was for her benefit. This extra precaution was due to the doctors finding out that her involuntary bursts of her ice powers were mainly caused by extreme stress and anxiety. He didn't want anyone to freeze to death while the agents were trying to sweat his kid.

Between the questions, Danny managed to get some information from them about Frostbite. Yes, he could be contacted through various means, but the odds aren't very good that he'll be able to receive or reply to any messages in a timely manner. The best way is to go over to their temporary home and speak with him in person. Said temporary home just happened to be deep within the Arctic Circle.

 The Observants routinely send out agents to check on Frostbite and his Infa-Map, and they wouldn’t object to having the Fentons come with them on their next trip. Danny told them he needed to talk to his wife first before making any decisions.

Danny wasn’t surprised that he made it home before Sam did, he didn’t expect her to get off work too early. He watched Ophelia as she took off some of her layers. She wasn’t blue anymore, which was good, and she didn’t seem to be shivering as much. She didn’t speak much on the car ride home so he didn’t know whether she still had the stutter, which may have been intentional on her end.

“You feeling okay?” he asked.

Ophelia looked over to him and nodded.

“I still feel cold, but not as much as I’ve been over the past week or so.”

Danny smiled.

“Yeah, the de-icing chamber doesn’t completely eliminate the chill. The only real way to get rid of it is to release it. Frostbite will show you how to do that…though he’ll probably get himself safely out of range before he lets you do anything.”

Ophelia put the coats in the closet under the stairs.

“Are you sure you don’t want to teach me yourself? Do we really need to get extra help?”

“Well, of course I want to teach you, but there is so much to our ice core that even I don’t understand. The people of the Far Frozen have known and worked with these abilities since…well, longer than anyone could keep track of. But don’t worry, I’ll be right there with you.”

Ophelia plopped herself down on the couch.

“What are they like, really? I mean, I know you and Mom are friends with them and everything, and you’ve told a couple of stories about them but…I don’t know, are they nice?”

Danny paused for a moment, confused.

“You’ve met them before, haven’t you? I’m sure I’ve taken you out to the Far Frozen before.”

Ophelia pondered over it and gave him a shrug.

“I don’t think so, and I think I would remember you taking me to an arctic tundra to meet yeti people.”

“I must have, he was practically begging to see you since he heard- oh! Right! You were just a baby when we took you out there, I remember now! I think that was the first time you ever saw snow. Your mother had you all bundled up tight because she was afraid you would get a chill, she wouldn’t even let Frostbite hold you until he got this long glove to cover his ice arm. He absolutely adored you, he wouldn’t stop trying to make you laugh. He even made you this little rattle out of this un-meltable ice, and it had these tiny snowflakes inside so it looked liked there was a blizzard going on every time you shook it. That was your favorite toy as a baby. I think we still have it somewhere.”

Ophelia’s eyes lit up.

“I think I remember that rattle. That’s where it came from?”

“Yeah, that’s where it came from. Oh man, I can’t believe it’s been so long!”

“That explains why I kept picturing ghost yetis every time I touched it.” Ophelia mumbled to herself. Louder, she said. “So I guess that means they’re nice…but can you really trust them with this?”

Danny raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean? You worried that they’ll be reporting back to the Observants or the Bureau? Trust me, they’re not like that. Their loyalty is with us.”

“No, I mean…what if they can’t teach me as well as they did you…what if I get worse?” 

Danny was quiet as he closed the closet door and took a seat next to Ophelia.

“You think you won’t be able to control it?”

Ophelia hugged her knees, her eyes cast to the coffee table.

“It’s just…everything else came so easily, you know? They all felt so natural to me…like I was meant to have them…I just had to stretch it out…but _this_ , this just feels so foreign…” Ophelia curled her fist over her chest, below her heart, where her ice core would be. “The more I try to keep it under control…it’s like it’s fighting against me. What if I _can’t_ get it under control? Will it finally freeze me solid, or will I be stuck in perpetual cold? Will I be able to touch anything without it being swallowed in ice?”

Danny put a hand around her shoulder and pulled her into a small semi-hug.

“It only gets worse when you worry, trust me. These powers, they only get worse when you try to repress it. You have to-“

“If you tell me to ‘let it go’ I swear to god I will turn us both into popsicles.”

The chill coming from her and shooting straight into his arm told him that she wasn’t kidding.

“But it is true, and I’m pretty sure Disney partly based that movie off of me.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes and giggled.

“Whatever you say, Dad.”  

“But seriously, Ophelia, everything’s going to be fine. It may seem impossible now but once you get into it it’ll all be second nature.”

Their conversation came into an end when they hear the front door open. Danny got up from the couch and walked to the door to greet his wife.

“You’re actually home early? And here I thought I’d never see the day-“ Danny stopped when he saw Sam. She looked dazed and pale, like she had just fainted or came out of a state of shock.  “Honey, what’s wrong you look like you just saw…you just saw…how do we not have an expression to replace ‘saw a ghost’?”

Sam looked at him, there was hurt in her lilac eyes. She mumbled something in a voice so quiet that Danny had some difficulty catching what she said.   
“He did again…”

“Who did what again? Sam, are you okay? Do you need to lie down?”

“I…I just came out of his arraignment?”

“Who’s arraignment?”  
  
“Vlad, those weasel lawyers he hired somehow got him an earlier date, and we didn’t know until the last minute.”

Danny’s veins turned to ice at the name. Without another word, he led Sam to the living room where she could sit down and explain what had happened.

“It looked like he was going to stick to the agreement. He pled guilty for just about everything read to him, he even admitted to crimes we didn’t even _know_ were committed. Some of them were minor stuff like traffic violations, others…” Sam stopped herself. She looked over to Ophelia, her cheeks flushed as she returned her eyes to Danny “Let’s just say that the courtroom learned a side of Vlad no one _ever_ wanted to know…I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep much for a while.”

Danny wondered what she meant, but the fact that Sam didn’t want to mention any of it in front of Ophelia told him it was probably best for his mental health if he didn’t think about it too much.

“Of course, the statute of limitations has long song run out on most of those crimes so it wouldn’t have done anything to the overall sentencing.”

It was then Danny realized something.

“Wait, you said it _looked like_ he was sticking to the plea agreement.”

There was a look in Sam’s eyes, one that he hadn’t seen in a long time.   
  
“There was…one thing he didn’t plea guilty to…well, technically more than one thing, but it all happened at once…”

Sam paused and looked over to Ophelia again. She had a pained look in her eyes that Danny had seen only once before. His heart sank.

“Oh no, please don’t tell me…”

Sam’s eyes met his and she gave a nod. He knew she wished she didn’t have to say the words.

“Jack and Maddie…everything he did on the 25th…he’s putting it all on trial.”

“He’s pleading insanity for that?” Ophelia said, indignant, “But he hates being called crazy, there’s no way he would-“

“He’s not using an insanity defense,” Sam interrupted her, “He’s arguing that he wasn’t there at all.”

The house fell silent. The words hung in the air like angry wasps, buzzing through everyone’s minds and stinging them deeply. Danny knew that Vlad was going to pull something, he and Sam both did, but neither of them thought he would do anything like this.

“He can't be serious,” he said, “there's no way anyone’s going to buy that. We have all the evidence we need against him. We have…”

Danny’s eyes went to Ophelia. Her stare was a million miles away, her hands clutching the couch cushions underneath. She looked like she was about to hyperventilate. He then knew why Vlad wanted to put this to trial, and he hated the Fruitloop all the more for it.

“Sam, is there any way we can do this without Ophelia’s testimony?”

Sam glanced to him, and he could tell she was thinking the exact same thing as him.

“I don’t know, we should have enough evidence to put him in the scene of the crime, along with your own testimony. But she’s the key witness, she’s the one who…” Sam’s voice trailed off. She couldn’t bring herself to say it, but Danny knew what she meant. Ophelia was the one who saw his parents die.

Ophelia shook her head violently.

“I can’t do it, I can’t. I can’t go up there with everyone watching me, with _him_ watching me, and tell them all everything he did to me. I can’t, _please_ don’t make me do it!”

While she was talking, the air got colder. The cushions she was white knuckling were covered in a frost that was quickly spreading all over the couch. The frost was spreading through the floor as well.   
  
Danny took a seat next to her and caught her in hug, absorbing the cold energy she was releasing.

“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay. You don’t have to testify, we’ll figure something out.”

Ophelia was shaking, both from the inner chill and from her panic. Her breath was a heavy fog as she began to hyperventilate.

“I don’t want him t-to g-get away with i-it, b-but I c-can’t imagine myself g-getting up there-“

Sam took a seat on the other side of Ophelia and held both her and Danny close.

“It’s okay, really, we’d never put you through that if you’re not ready for it.”

Sam looked up to Danny, their eyes met. They shared the same troubled look and understood each other clearly.

* * *

“So, do you think we have a chance without Ophelia?”

They were in their room, out of earshot of their child who would already be asleep anyway. Danny had his arms around Sam’s waist and his head resting just below her chest. Sam had one hand tangled in Danny’s hair while she read through the documents for one of her trials. Danny could tell by that distant look in her eyes that she had stopped reading, despite them being still fixed to the papers.

“Like I said, we should have plenty of evidence to put him at the scene of the crime, as well as your testimony. But he can always argue that he’s being set up, since he's your mortal enemy and we have connections in the police force.”

“Which is total bunk,” Danny said, somewhat annoyed. Less assured, he asked, “Nobody’s going to believe that, are they?”

“It only takes one juror to swing a verdict.” Sam tried to say that in her usual sarcastic tone, but there was no denying the sadness underneath.

She closed the file and stared out across the room, where the light of her bedside lamp could not reach.

“What could he possibly gain from this?” She asked, “Even in the off chance he gets acquitted for this, he's still got all those other crime to pay for. Our grandchildren will have grandchildren by the time he gets out.”

Danny tensed, squeezing Sam’s sides.

“He doesn't need to gain anything from it. As long as his enemies are miserable that's reason enough for him.”

“I don't think it's that simple, Danny.”

“Believe me, it is. I've fought him for a long time, I know what he's like. If he sees an opportunity to make people suffer, he will take it. He can't help himself.”

“I've known him just as long as you,” Sam said, indignant, “And for as long as I've known him he's always had some kind of ulterior motive. I don't think it's just about us reliving the worst night of our lives, I think he's up to something and he's using this as a distraction.”

“So what, you think he's buying time before sentencing? If he wanted to do that, then why didn't he put the rest of his charges on trial. It will take another ten years to go through every single one of them.”

“It’s the oldest trick in the book: he admits to all the other, lesser crimes and it looks like he's telling the truth when he says he had nothing to do with the big charges. And I already told you, the statute for most of those crimes he confessed to have ran out long ago so there's no skin off his nose.”

Danny lifted his head to get a better look at her.

“I would argue, but that does sound like something he would do.”

Sam smiled, glad it didn't take too long for Danny to get her point.

“You should have seen him at the courthouse today,” her smiled quickly disappeared when she recalled the event. “He looked at me at one point, and gave me this creepy little smirk like this was all some kind of inside joke that I was supposed to get.” She set her files on the nightstand and turned off the lamp. “Whatever he's up to, he’s got more than enough time for it. It may take a month just to select a jury that won't be entirely biased against Masters. Maybe then Ophelia will find the courage to take the stand.”

Danny shot her an incredulous look.

“You can’t be serious, you _want_ her to take the stand? After seeing how bad she reacted to the news downstairs?”

“Oh course I don't want to put her through that, especially if she's not ready for it. But at the same time…”

Sam fell quiet. Her body felt tense in his arms. He could hear that her breath was a little ragged. Although he couldn’t see her face in the shadow of the lamp light, he knew she was far from blissful.

“I've seen a lot of cases, Danny, a lot of bad things that happen to good people, and it's always the people that don't testify who regret it the most. I don't want her to go through that, Danny, I don't want her to go through life feeling ashamed because she was too scared to face him…”

There was a small hiccup in her voice. She fell silent, letting her breathing even out before continuing. Danny knew she was trying to repress the urge to cry. He could count on one hand the number of times he had ever seen Sam shed tears, whether for joy or sorrow. Although her need to be strong for others was one of the many qualities that made him fall in love with her, Danny wished she wouldn't have to bottle up her feelings. He was her husband, he’s supposed to be there when she felt vulnerable just as she has always done for him.  
Danny pulled himself up to sit, moving his arms from Sam’s waist to her shoulders. He pulled her towards him, cradling her head at his shoulders and stroking her hair. What control Sam had over herself was gone, and she began to sob.

“It’s okay, Sam,” Danny whispered, “Let it all out.”

“I hate him _so much_ ,” She cried into his shoulder, “I hate _everything_ about him. He went too far in what he did to Ophelia but _this!_ I don’t think there’s a word to describe how cruel this is. Why does he keep doing this to us?”

Danny didn’t answer; he honestly did not have one. He let her cry it out, imagining how long she has kept it in.

“I’m so sorry,” she said when she was starting to calm down, “I’m just so tired. Everything happens all at once, and I just can’t even stop to breathe.”

Danny pulled her head from his should so he could look at her face. Her eyes were red and puffy, with dark rings around her eyes. She was sad, and so, so very tired.

“Don’t hate me, and please don’t hurt me, but don’t you think that maybe you should take some time off of work? Maybe until after this whole trial thing is over?”

He could see part of her wanted to smack him for that. Hard. Fortunately for him, that part of her was sound asleep.

“I don’t know. It would be good for Ophelia to have both her parents around to help her through this, and I am _so tired_ , but…I have over a dozen cases. I can’t just drop them on short notice.”

“I’m pretty sure Ramis will be more than happy to give you the time off and the other prosecutors even more so to cover you. You are the hardest working lawyer in the entire district, not to mention the best, you deserve it and then some.”

Sam smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. There was a laugh somewhere in the sobs.

“You and your flattery,” she said, “I’ll call them in the morning, but I won’t make any promises.”

Danny smiled back, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“That’s enough for me.”

* * *

To Sam’s surprise, it was DA Ramis that called her the next morning, asking her if she wanted to take a leave of absence until the Masters trial was over and done with.

“What about all my cases?” Sam asked, “I don't think it would be fair to dump all of that onto the rest of the department.”

“Are you kidding?” Ramis said with an indignant hint in her usual jovial voice, “First of all, how can you think it's unfair to disperse all those cases among a whole department and yet completely okay to dump it on _one person_? You're human, just like…well, most of us. And even the _ghosts_ think your caseload is insane!”

“Oh come on, Erin, don't you think you’re over-exaggerating. If you thought it was so insane, you wouldn't have let me handle them.”

“Whoever said I _let_ you?”

Sam couldn't help but smile at that.

“I still don't think it’s fair,” Sam said, stubbornly, “Are you sure everyone’s okay with the extra work?”

“More than okay, everyone has been _volunteering_ to take cases off of you since yesterday. Heck, I've been getting emails from ADAs in other departments asking to cover for you.”

Sam’s eyes widened, she was completely awestruck.

“Really?”

“Why do you sound so surprised? Everyone knows what you and your family have been through, and what you're still going through. And with all that you and your husband have done for this town they'd have to be completely heartless not to want to lend a hand… That, or they want you out of the office so you can stop making them look bad. Whichever one you want to believe.”

“Well, thank everyone for me anyway.”

“Don't go out of town or anything,” Ramis warned, her tone closer to the one of her more serious courtroom persona. “It may be a while before the trial itself starts but Natalie still needs you to go over your statements and to prep you for the stand. Make sure Mr. Foley and Capt. Gray know to do the same.”

“Sure, of course,” Sam said half heartedly. She knew this was going to come up. “Thank you again, Mrs. Ramis, I don't know how I can ever repay all of you.”

“You've done more than enough already. Send my love to the family, I wish all of you the best of luck.”

“Will do, send my regards to yours as well..”

With that, the phone call ended. Despite the feeling of utter dread for having to leave work during all the chaos, giddiness and relief rose like champagne bubbles. She didn’t know so many people cared about her and her family. Sometimes she forgets human beings had a capacity for kindness as well as malice.

She hadn't realized that Danny was in the kitchen with her until she felt his hands rubbing her shoulders.

“I'm guessing you called her?” Danny asked, cheerily.

Sam spun around in her kitchen stool and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his face close to hers.

“Actually, she called me.” She murmured into his lips, “Everyone’s so sick of having me around that they are volunteering to take cases off of my hands, even people from other departments.”

Danny smiled, looking just as astonished as she had felt moments ago.

“Really? That's so nice of them.”

“I'm pretty sure they were after all my high-profiles,” Sam mused, “I do have a lot of them. But either way, we should have Ramis and her wife over for dinner sometime.”

“I was just about to offer that.”

Danny rested his hands on the small of her back and pulled in for a kiss. Sam pulled away for a moment.

“I was right about the trial prep, though,” she told him.

“So we can't leave town?” Sam gave him a nod, Danny sighed, “Alright then, I guess I should call the Bureau and see if Frostbite can come here and train her.”

“Do you think you can teach her a couple of things in the meantime?”

“Well of course I can show her some basics, but with these powers you need to learn from someone who knows exactly what they are doing.”

“I know, but at least show her enough to keep her out of the hospital, and innocent bystanders.”

Danny smiled and leaned back in.

“Deal”

Sam lifted her head and they sealed their agreement with a kiss.

“Kid in the room!”

Both Danny and Sam pulled away and turned their heads towards the doorway, where they found Ophelia entering the room with her hand blocking her eyes.

“Why are you still in your pajamas?” Sam asked.

“You and dad are still in your pajamas,” Ophelia retorted, “I thought we were having a pajama party.”

“Well, you better change out now or else you’re going to be late for school.”

“I can’t be late for school, I’m suspended.”

Sam dropped her arms from Danny’s neck.

“You’re what!”

“Honey, you are not suspended.” Danny said, dodging his wife’s cold glare.

 “Right, I’m only ‘given time away from school grounds until my abilities are no longer a danger to the student body’, which is code for ‘suspended for having freakazoid powers’.”

“You let them suspend her?” Sam could feel her anger build.

Danny took a step back and held up his hands defensively.

“She’s not suspended, it’s not like it’s going to end up on her school records. She’s basically out sick for a while.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a bad case of being a freakazoid.”

“First off, you are not a freakazoid. You are half ghost and what happened to you is totally natural and anyone who tells you otherwise are ignorant jerks. Second, I’m calling the school.”

She turned her seat back to the kitchen counter and picked up her phone.

“It was Baxter who got you suspended, right?” reluctantly, Ophelia nodded. “I thought so, that guy has had it in for us since we moved back here. I bet the kid who pushed you didn’t even get a slap on the wrist. Who shoved you into the pool, anyway? I’m going to give their parents a piece of my mind.”

Ophelia turned away, but not fast enough for Sam not to catch her eyes flashing.

“I didn’t see who it was.” She said. Sam immediately knew she was lying.

Sam found the number for Casper High and was about to hit the call button when Danny turned her phone intangible and phased it out of her hand.

“You don’t need to call the school.” He said.

“Yes, I do,” Sam growled, “Give me back my phone.”

She reached out to grab it but her hand went right through it. Annoyed, she swung a punch at Danny’s arm only for her fist to fly right through it. Sometimes, Sam found his ghost powers to be very annoying.  

“Sam, you’re tired and we’re having a very bad week, none of us are in any condition to pick fights with the school. Besides, they aren’t entirely wrong to make her stay home. She could’ve hurt someone in the condition she was in.”

Sam stared daggers into him, partially wishing she could make that phrase more literal. She hated when Danny acted like he’s always right, even more on the few occasions when he actually was right.

“That may be true, but we both know they had their own reasons to keep her home. We can’t let it slide.”  
  
“We won’t, but we have a lot more things to worry about than a petty gym teacher. Why don’t we get through this, get our kid from thirty Fahrenheit to thirty Celsius, get you rested and relaxed, and then you can deliver your swift, devastating blow of righteous fury.”

Sam’s eyes flicked from Danny to the phone. She let out a sigh.

“Fine,” she said begrudgingly, she turned back to Ophelia, “but you will tell me who pushed you in.”

Ophelia’s eyes dimmed as she made a deer-in-the-headlights expression.

“Y-yes Mommy” she stammered, averting her eyes.

Sam ignored it for now and turned back to Danny. She held out her hand.

“Can I have my phone back now?”

Danny smiled and returned Sam’s phone. He then turned his attention to Ophelia.  
  
“Go up stairs and get dressed.” He told her, “We’re starting you ice training now.”

“Can’t I have breakfast first?” Ophelia whined.

Danny reached over Sam to the fruit bowl on the counter and took an apple. He tossed it over to Ophelia, giving her only a split second to process and clumsily catch it.   
  
“There, we’ll eat more when we’re done for today. Now come on, just because you’re not in school doesn’t mean you get to sit around all day.”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed annoyed. The white rings appeared at her middle and changed her fleece pajamas into black jeans and a green sweater that seemed two sizes too big for her.

“Fine, let’s go.” She said before taking a huge bite out of the apple.

* * *

Over in Elmerton, there was a large vacant lot that took up an entire city block. Over the years, there had been many plans in what to do with this piece of real estate. One idea was to turn it into a park, another was to build an apartment complex, another still was to make it into a shopping mall. Sadly, since this lot was in such a bad part of town, none of these plans ever made it past paper. Even with the price being so severely reduced, the property was deemed more costly than it was worth. So the lot sat there abandoned, protected by a flimsy chain link fence that rusted and deformed over time. Even with the town becoming flooded with ghosts as a result of the Evacuation, hardly anyone ever goes near it.

Ophelia couldn’t figure out why her father thought this would be the perfect place to start her training.

 “Okay,” her father said, clapping his hands together, “Let’s begin.”

The white rings changed him from Fenton to Phantom, a form more durable and prepared for the lessons and whatever comes in its wake.

“We’ll start with the first lesson I was taught when I trained with Frost Bite: stop shivering.”

“A-and you th-thought taking me to Ghost C-central would help me with that?” Ophelia said through chattering teeth. They had only just got there and already she was shivering.

“Actually, yes,” he said excitedly, she could tell he had been waiting to give this explanation for a long time. “You see, your chills are from all the energy from your ice core building up inside you, and the only times we let out is through our ghost sense. So if you’re exposed to an area with a high concentration of ectoplasm in the atmosphere, it should make it easier to release all that ice energy.”

Ophelia raised a quizzical eyebrow and cocked her head to the side. She couldn’t tell whether that was a clever idea or a crazy one.

“I g-guess that m-makes sense,” she said with a shrug, though she was shaking so much it was hard to tell.

Her dad beamed, proud to see his own theory validated.   
  
“They don’t let just anyone into the Space Program,” he said. “Now, focus on the cold inside you. Focus on where it’s all coming from.”  
  
Ophelia shut her eyes and tried to do what her father said. Her entire body was cold, but there was one spot that was always colder. She could feel it deep in her center, a deep almost stinging cold. It pulsed, wanting to shoot out. She hadn’t noticed before how much energy she had been using to force it in. Only trickles of it leaked out, spreading across her body in chills.

“I th-think I’ve g-got it.” She said.   
  
“Good, now press onto it. Force it until it has nowhere to go but out.”

“Are you s-sure, it k-kind of hurts.”

“Don’t worry, Honey, it’s perfectly fine.”

Ophelia noticed that her dad sounded further away and opened one eye. Not only was he now standing ten feet away but he had put up an ecto-shield around him.

“Don’t mind me,” he called out from inside the shield, “Just playing it safe.”  
  
“V-very enc-couraging, D-dad!” she called back.

She ignored him and went back to focusing on her ice core. She let her body relax, stopping herself from resisting her core. More cold rushed through her body in one large chill, making her lungs spasm. She tried to ignore it and pressed on the core. Like an egg, the ice core seemed to break open, and an intense cold surged through her like an electric current. It was more ice than her body could contain and before she knew it the cold shot out of her like a large gust of wind.

With that great surge went all the cold in her body. She wasn’t shivering anymore; there wasn’t even so much as a small chill left. For the first time since the Evacuation, she didn’t feel cold anymore. In fact, in her sweater, scarves and thick winter coat, she actually felt warm.

“I did it,” she said, staring at her hands incredulously. “I don’t feel cold anymore. Dad, I-whoa!”

She looked around her. What had been an empty lot of loose dry earth and rocks had become a square block of arctic tundra. The ground beneath her was covered in a thick, uneven layer of ice, with chips scattered about the surface. The fence surrounding the area was frosted over looking like the inside of a freezer. Small flecks of ice fluttered down from above like snow. Ophelia looked around both dumbfounded and embarrassed.

“I guess I may have _over_ done it a bit.” She said

Where her father had stood there was a jagged dome of ice. Ophelia was hoping that is wasn’t solid when she saw a flicker of green glowing inside. The flicker grew and burst through the dome, shattering it in the process. Ophelia turned herself intangible so she wouldn’t be hit by any of the shrapnel. Her dad stood inside the remains of the dome, with glowing hands and an even brighter smiled.

“You did it,” he told her, ecstatic, “Great job, Ophelia. Really great job!”

A smile spread across Ophelia’s face. She was bouncing, overjoyed at her success and her newfound warmth. She ran up to her father and leaped into a hug that would have knocked him down if she had been heavier.

“Thank you, Daddy, thank you, thank you, thank you! I can’t believe it’s gone just like-“

A chill went through her body and into her hands. Her dad flinched and put her down. He turned to look over his shoulder. There was a patch of frost on her back where Ophelia’s hand had been. Ophelia’s eyes went dim and she became transparent.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to, I’m so stupid-“

“It’s okay,” he said, brushing the frost off his back, “You’re just learning, you’re bound to make mistakes. So far, you’re doing much better than I did in my first run. I’m so proud of you.”

Ophelia looked down at her hands. They felt both numb with the chill and tingling with energy at the same time.

“How long do you think it will take?”

“As long as you need.”

“Which means forever.”

Her father put his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her with a warm, comforting smile.

“Don’t worry about it, these powers are very complicated. The very concept of ice energy contradicts the laws of nature. You’ll get this down when you get this down, whether it be with the next week or next year-“

“ _A year!_ I can still be struggling with this for a whole year!?”

“It’s…” her dad sighed. His smile faded. “Actually, I don’t know. We’re new territory, there’s no way to tell what can be done and what can’t. It’s very possible that you can never get this down. But it’s equally as possible that you can get it down within the next two days. You just have to keep you mind positive and take it as it comes. You just need to know two things: you control the power, the power does not control you. If you let it take over, it will.”

“What’s the second thing?”

Her dad’s smile returned.  
  
“Your mother and I love you, and no matter what we will be proud of you.”

Ophelia let out a small laugh.  
  
“You’re so dorky, Dad.”

“And I wear it like a badge of honor.” He said, also laughing. “Now come on, let’s see how far we can get before lunch.”

* * *

Although Sam was given time off work, she still went to the office to make sure her cases were going to good hands. She tracked down every last one of the ADAs with her cases and made sure they had everything they had all the files they needed, knew all her witnesses and her approach for every case and her suspected approaches of each defendant and how to counter it. Most took the advice gratefully and happily, especially the younger prosecutors and the ones who didn’t primarily work in GHCU crimes. There were a few that she could tell resented her interference, thinking that she was bossy and thought herself better than she really was. These were mostly older lawyers who couldn’t look through her twenty-four-year-old body to see the thirty-eight-year-old who had one of the highest conviction rates in the district. She was used to it, of course, and had learned which battles are worth fighting and which to ignore. Yet even these few would take her notes and thanked her with a polite, if not forced smile. She knew why, and it had nothing to do with her being respected. Everyone she met was acting nice to her in the exact same way, and though they tried to hide it she could see that sympathetic look in their eyes. She was still their colleague, yes, but now she was also a victim. As much as she appreciated their concern, she was trying really hard not to snap at them. Sam Manson could take a lot of things, but she could not stand to have anyone pity her.   

She planned on going to the courthouse to see how some of her cases were standing trial without her and told Danny to meet her there for lunch. On the way out of the office, she ran into Natalie. She had some questions for her regarding Vlad’s trial and they went together to the courthouse so Sam could answer them.

“So your daughter doesn’t want to testify?” Natalie asked as they left the courtroom where the trial of Sam’s last case just broke for recess.  Sam gave a solemn nod.

“The news came at a bad time. Well, any time is bad to hear news like that but this was a particularly bad one.”  
  
“You mean about ice powers coming in?” Noticing Sam’s glare, Natalie was quick to explain, “I heard about the incident at school.”

Sam rolled her eyes.

“Word travels too fast,” she scoffed. “But yes, her ice powers came in weeks ago. That and hearing about the trial has put her in a delicate state right now. She might change her mind later, though, so put her aside for now.”

Natalie nodded and jotted it down into her notes.

“I’m not going to lie to you, this may weaken our case a great deal. There isn’t an official statement from her about that night, and now with her absence in trial the defense might say that she made the whole thing up and is too guilty to face the court. But we still have the forensics and your husband’s testimony from his rescue, so we still have a good chance.”

“A good chance? That man had plotted to kill Jack long before either of us were even born, he has made murder attempts on my family since I was in high school. He’s tried to have me _burned at the stake_ before he had ever spoken so much as one word to me! And let’s not forget the time he nearly _destroyed the planet_!”

“Sam, you and I both know that the jury is required to disregard anything that doesn’t pertain to the case. Everyone knows that he’s a monster, but he still has the right to be treated like anyone else in the court of law. He has motive, yes, but he’s not the only one out there that wants your family dead. You are too close to this case to see it from other angles. To you, it’s airtight, but to everyone else, there are a few holes that the defense can worm their way through. But I won’t let that happen, and that’s why I need every bit of information you can give me about that night.”

Anger swelled inside Sam, her fists balled so tightly her fingernails threatened to pieces skin. She knew Natalie was right, however, and that’s what made it all the more infuriating. Vlad hurt her family and there was a small chance that he might get away with it. Knowing better than to throw a fit in the middle of a courthouse, Sam took a deep breath and gave a polite smile.

“What else do you need?”

Natalie gave a nervous smile back and went through her files.

“Valerie has been keeping good records on the forensics side so I think I’ll only have to go over everyone’s statements. Since Ophelia is out of the question right now, Danny is our prime witness.”

“Mom!”

Both Sam and Natalie turned when they heard Ophelia’s shout, as well as a few other people.

“Speak of the devils.” Sam mused.

Ophelia and Danny were on the other side of the hall from them, but once Ophelia spotted her mother she bolted from her father’s side and raced right towards her. She was about to give Sam a hug, but immediately stopped herself right when she had her arms out.

“Mom, you won’t believe the stuff Dad taught me!” Ophelia said, bouncing as she spoke, “I don’t feel cold anymore, and I covered a whole city block in snow, and I made these things out of ice look,” She held out her hand and started to glow. A ball of blue energy formed and shaped itself into snowflake pattern. The energy crystalized into ice and the shape became a real snowflake. The snowflake stopped glowing and fell into Ophelia’s palm.

Sam took the snowflake from her daughter’s hand. It felt cold to the touch and was already turning wet in her fingers.

“This is amazing, Ophelia, and it’s only your first day.”

“I know! Dad says I might be able to master it by the time Frostbite gets here.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly say that.” Danny defended once he caught up to him. “But yeah, she is picking it up faster than expected.”

Danny wrapped his arm around Sam’s waist and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey honey, how’s it going with all your cases?”

Sam put her hand over the one Danny had at her waist and smiled at him playfully.

“They’re not my cases anymore,” she said, “But they seemed to all be in good hands.”

“We were just talking about the trial,” Natalie said, interrupting their moment. Danny hadn’t seemed to notice that she was there up to that moment, but when he recognized her he smiled and offered his hand.

“Natalie, long time no see. How’s everything been?”

“Fine,” Natalie said, shaking his hand. Not sure if Danny heard her, she repeated her earlier statement. “We were just talking about the trial. I told her that I might need to go over both of your statements to make sure there isn’t anything missing.”

Danny’s smile disappeared. His eyes went to Ophelia, who also showed signs of discomfort, and then back to Natalie.   
  
“Yeah, um, sure…can we talk about this later? We were about to go out for lunch.”

“I can come with,” Natalie offered, “We can discuss it while we eat. I know of this Indian place just around the corner-“

“Actually Natalie,” Sam said in a hushed tone. “I think Danny’s right, now’s not a good time to talk about this.” Her eyes darted over to Ophelia.

Natalie followed her eyes and went wide when she understood what they were trying to tell her. She pursed her lips and her eyes went down to the floor, ashamed.

“Right, sorry,” she said solemnly, “Now’s not a good time.”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed, shooting an indignant glare at the three adults.

“What? You can’t talk about Vlad because I’m here? Just because I don’t want to testify doesn’t mean I can’t handle hearing about the trial.”

“That may be true,” Danny said, “But we shouldn’t risk it. Your ice powers seemed to be triggered by stress. You’ve gotten pretty far but we should still try to play it safe until Frostbite gets here.”

Ophelia pouted. Usually, Sam would jump to her daughter’s side when she thought Danny was being overly patronizing towards her. But, in this case at least, he had all the right to. Ophelia may think she can handle it, but after seeing her reaction yesterday there wasn’t a lot of weight to her words.   
  
After a minute or two, Ophelia rolled her eyes.

“Fine,” she said with a groan, “whatever, you’re right as always. Can we go eat?”

Danny smiled again.

“Sure.”

Sam turned to Natalie.   
  
“Maybe later tonight,” Sam offered, “You’ll have what you need by the end of the week, I guarantee that.”

Natalie nodded. She pulled out her phone and looked through her calendar.   
  
“Okay, but I’ll hold you to that. I need to get this all done as soon as possible so I can prepare for whatever the defense could possibly throw at me. I’ll walk out with you, I need to meet a few other witnesses before the end of the day.”

They made plans to further discuss the trial as they waited for the elevator. Despite the stress from the past twenty-four hours, Sam felt like things were going to turn out okay. Now that she knew exactly who was getting which of her cases, she even started to relax a little.   
  
“Where do you think you want to go to eat?” She asked both Danny and Ophelia.

Danny shrugged.   
  
“That Indian place sounded good.”

“I’ll text you the name and address of the place right now.” Natalie said, going through the contacts on her phone.

“Thanks, Nat,” said Sam, “Next time you’re eating with us, I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that, too.”

The elevators door opened, and everyone was about to step in. They halted in their tracks, however, once they saw who was stepping out. The first to come out were two defense lawyers that Sam wished she didn’t have the displeasure of knowing. William Lomax was the older of the two, with dark skin and dark hair that was already turning grey and spectacles that hid his tried, sunken eyes. Kevin Lewis was a half a head taller, light skinned and looked only a little older than Sam and Danny did. His hair was dark blonde was tastefully disheveled and he had a face that seemed to default to a smiling expression, although it wasn’t a kind smile. They were followed by their client, who looked out with a dastardly smile. At the sight of Vlad, Sam instinctively pulled Ophelia behind her.

“Oh goodness,” said Vlad with feigned surprise, “Daniel and Samantha, I did not expect to see you two here today. How are my favorite power couple?”

“What are you doing here?” Danny sneered.

“He’s preparing for his appearance in court.” Said Lomax, his voice gruff and dusty. “Just as I'm assuming you have just done.”

“Actually, no,” said Natalie, “We were just-“

“I don't believe it's any of your concern what we’re doing here.” Sam interjected.

Lomax gave her an annoyed glare, which like everything about him seemed tired. He may have planned to say something else before Lewis spoke up.  
  
“It’s actually quite convenient to run into you,” he said to Natalie. He opened his briefcase and rummaged through the paperwork. He pulled out a paper and looked it over. “We needed to give you and the judge our list of witnesses we plan on calling to the stand, as well as evidence so you can properly check them.” He took out a pen and scribbled down something before handing the paper over. “And here’s my number if you have any questions, even if it doesn’t have to do with the case.” He gave her a wink.

Natalie took the paper gingerly, her utter disgust was very visible on her face.

“Thanks” she said with gritted teeth, “I’ll make sure to look over this thoroughly.”

“And we expect to see your complete list as well.” Lomax said.

“How’s that little girl of yours?” Vlad said, ignoring the subject at hand. “I haven’t seen her at all since my incarceration, I thought she would have visited me at least once.”

Sam took a quick glance behind her and Ophelia wasn’t there. A tight, icy squeeze on her arm told her that Ophelia had turned herself invisible. She must be terrified, Sam thought, and frankly she didn’t blame her.

“You're never coming near her.” Danny said, his eyes flashing green.

Vlad smirked, unaffected by the threat.

“Oh well, I guess I have to wait until my trial to see her then. That poor child, I can only imagine the stress she must be going through right now. After ten years of trying to suppress that horrible night she’ll have to dredge it all up again. It will be a miracle if she remembers every last detail, especially considering how little she was when it happened. And she’ll have to tell all of it to a room full of strangers. As I recall, she never made an official statement of what happened, so this may very well be the first time she has spoken about this to anyone. But I'm sure she will do fine, what with her loving parents there to help her every step of the way.”

“Are you insinuating something about one of my witnesses, Mr. Masters?” said Natalie with harsh accusation.

“Not at all, Counselor,” Lomax defended, “My client is merely expressing his sympathies towards the girl and her family.”

“Ah yes,” said Vlad, feigning concern, “We may have had our differences, and I may have done some unkind things to you in the past, but what had happened to you I would not wish upon my worst of enemies.”

They all made room and allowed for Vlad and his attorneys to pass. He paused by Sam and gave her a glance from the corner of his eye. The invisible grip on Sam’s arm tightened, the chill was starting to sting her through her sleeve.

“In any case, do let her know that her old Uncle Vlad has been thinking of her.” He said with a saccharine tone that was no less threatening, “I've been thinking of all of you of course, but her especially. Take care.”

If he had exited with his usual poise and grace, it may have been a terrifying encounter. Alas, all that dramatic flare went up in smoke when after taking only two steps he slipped and fell on his backside. His lawyers, when looking back to check on their client, also took an undignified spill, their papers flying everywhere.

A look to the floor revealed culprit of the fall to be a thin layer of already melting ice that had spread from a spot near Sam’s feet. Vlad spotted this as he picked himself off the slippery ground and glared at Danny.

“Honestly Daniel, you are far too old for such immature pranks.”

Sam and Danny exchanged looks. Both were having a hard time trying not to laugh, Danny being the worse by letting a smile crack through.

 They took no time to give a reply, or to even feign an apology. Without saying a word, they left the three men to pick themselves off the ground and hurried into the elevator. When the doors closed, Sam turned to the invisible hand that had been cutting off the circulation in her arm.

“Ophelia, you did that, didn’t you?” she said plainly.

Ophelia went from invisible to transparent, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.   
“I didn’t mean to, I swear.” She mumbled hastily, “I…I freaked out and it happened. I’m sorry.”

Ophelia looked nervous, like she was expecting her mother to tell her off. In any other occasion, she probably would have, but at this moment all she could do was smile and pull her daughter in for a hug.

“It’s okay sweetie,” said Sam. “You’re still learning.”

The cold coming from her daughter stung her, but Sam still kept her arms around Ophelia. She looked over to Danny, who seemed to share her worry. Ophelia should have had better control of it now that she released the ice energy, but she had no more control than she had yesterday. The ice powers were going to get worse before they would get better, and the upcoming trial would do anything but help. She only hoped Frostbite would get here before anyone got seriously hurt. 

“It’s okay, honey,” Sam said, stroking her daughter’s hair. “He can’t hurt you, he can’t hurt anyone again. Nothing will ever hurt you again.”


	25. Snowballed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen checks on his girlfriend.

The day had ended for Casper High and Owen was more than excited to get back to Willow Street. He hadn’t seen Ophelia since the morning before she was taken out of school by Mr. Fenton on a “sick leave”. He had to hear from Abi and a few witless social media posts about the incident at the gym. He was only glad people stopped calling her Snow Queen before it even began.

He had offered to take her homework to her so she wouldn’t be behind on any of her classes, but all of her teachers told him that all of their assignments were online. Whatever else Ophelia might need, they informed him, Mrs. Fenton had them make sure to email them to her. 

 “Have you heard anything about Ophelia?”

Owen jumped back halfway to the other side of the hall. Inside his locker was the monochrome head of Sidney Poindexter, the unofficial ghostly mascot of Casper High.

“Jeez, Sid, give me a heart attack why don’t you.”

“Sorry”

Sidney pulled himself out of the locker and floated down to Owen’s feet. Owen graciously accepted Sidney’s hand and the ghost pulled him to his feet.  

“I thought you would be used to it by now, considering you’re dating a halfa.”

“Well, I’m not, and I don’t think it’s politically correct to call her a halfa.”

“I’ve heard her and her father get called a lot worse.”

“Still not right.”

Poindexter gave a nod to this, telling Owen that he intended to take his advice.

“Have you heard from her at all?”

“No, I haven’t. Why are you so interested in my girlfriend all of a sudden? I’ve never seen you exchange more than five words with her.”

Poindexter gave a shrug.

“Just because I don't know someone well doesn't mean I can't be concerned when they are being bullied.”

Owen groaned. This isn't the first time Poindexter has asked him this question. Ever since he introduced Ophelia to the ghost, Poindexter has always looked at her oddly. These odd looks evolved into questions about Ophelia's experiences in her past schools.

“I told you, she's not being bullied. She might not be the most popular girl in school but that doesn't mean she's being bullied.”

“Then what do you call that incident in the swimming pool?”

“Her god brother blamed her for his mom grounding him and he thought he was getting back at her. If anything, it's ersatz sibling rivalry.”

“Don't play that jazz with me, I had an older brother and nothing he ever did kept me out of school for over a week.”

“That's because of her ice powers coming in, unless you think the vice principal is a bully too.”

Poindexter crossed his arms. Owen assumed he was trying to give him a intimidating glare but since he was the least threatening looking ghost he had ever met it only came out as stubborn pout.

“You might not be able to see it, and most of the time they never want anyone to, but I can tell when someone has been bullied. It may not be happening in the school but someone is picking on that poor kid.”

Owen’s jaw clenched, he wasn’t sure how to respond. Technically, Poindexter was right. Ophelia was being picked on, but it was a lot worse than bullying. He heard about the upcoming Plasmius trial not too soon after the arraignment. He only heard what the charges were, never looking up details. He knew Ophelia wouldn't like it if he knew the whole story. He had known that something had happened to her grandparents, but he had never imagined they were murdered. Or that she was there when it happened. He couldn’t remember much back when it happened, only that the grown ups became very worried after Christmas and never explained why. Now he understood. It was scary to think that something like that could happen in your own town.

Owen sighed.

“If you’re worried about her so much, why don’t you go over to the Fentons and check on her? Unless you’re bound by some weird American Horror Story-type ghost rule.”

Poindexter looked off, nervously fumbling with his glasses.

“I don’t know about your stories, but I don’t think it would be polite to just barge in on them unannounced. Like you said, I’m not that close with the kid and I haven’t talked to her parents since they graduated from this school.”

“Alright then, I’ll check on her for you.”

Poindexter turned his eyes back on him, utterly surprised. He looked as if he was waiting for a punch line.

“Gee willikers, you’d do that for me?”

“Um, yeah sure,” Owen said with a shrug, “I was planning on doing it anyway so why not?”

Poindexter smiled, a very warm and kind smile at that.

“Gee, thanks, that’s really nice of you. I’m sorry I have to ask, but as I’ve said before I’ve seen this type of thing before and it never ends well.”  
  
“I think she’ll be fine, she’s got superpowers after all.”

“Being strong on the outside doesn’t mean you aren’t fragile on the inside. At our age, we’re like glass, anything can shatter us. I still remember Phantom back when he went to school here. Everyone saw him as this big hero and loved him but he had this scared look. It was like he was waiting for it all to - what do you call it? ‘Blow up in his face’? You catch my drift?”

Frankly, Owen didn’t. He and his friends use to take the long way home so they could pass by the statue in front of city hall. He has seen old news articles, comic adaptations, every form of media under the sun depicting a young Mr. Fenton as this invincible hero fighting bad guys. Yet knowing what he once looked like, Owen had a hard time imaging Mr. Fenton ever being a kid, especially one that was just as insecure and scared as any other teenager. Then again, he thought the same of Ophelia before he got to know her.

Owen attempted to give Poindexter a sympathetic pat on the back, only for his hand to go right through the ghost.

“Don’t worry about it, Sid, I’m sure they’re all perfectly fine.”

* * *

As soon as he dropped Millie at home and made sure at least one of their parents was there to watch her, Owen headed next door to the Fenton’s house.

He knocked on the door and rang the bell a few times, but all he heard was Cujo yipping from the other side of the door. They must have the shield up, he thought. He took out his phone and texted Ophelia to see where she was. It took a while, but she responded to say that she and her dad were on their way home right now. With a shrug, he decided to sit at the doorstep and wait for her.

 “Excuse me, do you know where I can find the Fenton’s residence?”

“Sure, you’re actually-“ Owen stopped mid-sentence when he looked up and saw who had asked.

At first, he thought he was looking at a polar bear, seeing only the huge, bulky frame and white fur. But after a moment, he saw that the polar bear was clothed, had a tail and horns on his head that looked like they were made of ice, and had a face and body structure that was nothing like a polar bear. What struck Owen most was the creature’s right arm, which was actually the skeleton incased in ice.

Owen stared dumbstruck at the creature for a moment before saying, “You must be Frostbite.”

 “Indeed, I am.” He said while scanning a block, “Now, which one of these houses belongs to Danny Phantom?”

Owen turned his head to the door behind him and back to Frostbite.   
  
“Um, this one?” He said, jerking his thumb behind him.

Frostbite smiled and before he knew it, Owen was snatched up in a huge, cold, furry, constricting hug and was being swung back and forth.  
  
“My goodness, Ophelia, how you’ve grown! I could fit you in the palm of my hand last time I saw you.”

“Wrong kid!” Owen wheezed through his crushed lungs.

Frostbite stopped swinging and pulled Owen from his chest. He looked at the dazed boy carefully, and sniffed his head as one would smell a carton of milk to see if it’s still good.

“Whoops, sorry,” Said Frostbite while dropping Owen to the ground. “I thought you were Danny Phantom’s daughter.”

“But I’m a boy.” Owen replied.

Frostbite rubbed the back of his large neck bashfully. “Yes, well, you humans look the same to me.”

Owen picked himself up from the ground. His arms felt sore from where he was hugged. He was certain he was going to get bruises.

“I guess that’s fair,” he grunted, “you probably don’t see a lot of humans. I’m actually waiting for Ophelia myself, she and Mr. Fenton are on their way right now.”

“Then we shall wait together.” Frostbite said rather boisterously.

“Um, great” was Owen’s nervous reply.

Owen returned to his seat at the top doorstep. Frostbite took a seat a few steps down, his large form still taking up a great deal of space and made Owen scoot to the side.

“So…where have you been living since the Evacuation?” Owen asked, trying to make this situation feel a little less weird.

“My people have been residing in the North Pole,” Frostbite answered, “Somewhere near Siberia, I believe. We are at home to extremely cold environments.”

“Then you must be baking out here.”

“Nonsense, I am a ghost, climates do not bother me as it does you humans.”

“So then you live in a desolate ice tundra because you like the scenery?”

Frostbite sent a look his way that, despite not seeming particularly threatening, made the color leave Owen’s face.

“No, no, I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just…different for me.”  
  
Forstbite’s face softened.

“This whole world is different for me, even the tundra. I haven’t had reason to enter the Human Plane in my entire existence. Even last time the Ghost King was released my people and I stood our ground until the Great One defeated him. But now, without the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep to trap him, we had no choice but to leave our home.”

Owen cast his eyes to the ground.  
  
“Yeah, Phé’s been upset about it, too. Pariah destroyed the Fenton’s realm, so they don't have anything even when it’s safe to go back into the Ghost Zone. I can’t imagine losing my home, let alone getting booted from my home dimension. It must be tough.”

Frostbite smiled and rose to his feet.

“Eh, it’s nothing to worry about for long. Danny Phantom will defeat the Ghost King just like he’s done before and we’ll all be home soon.”  
He attempted to give Owen a friendly pat on the back, but instead knocked him off the steps.

“Sorry” Owen heard Frostbite mutter.

“Owen!”

Owen pulled himself up to find Mr. Fenton’s car pull into the driveway. The car didn’t even come to a stop when Ophelia phased out of the back seat and bolted towards him. Mr. Fenton’s training must really be helping her. The first thing he noticed was her clothes. She wore a black knee length dress and black tights. She didn't have a coat on, not even a scarf. She looked smaller to him, after weeks of seeing her figure filled out with thick layers of sweaters and wool coats. Although she still looked paler than usual, the blue tint in her skin was gone making her look sickly rather than dead. She even looked a little flushed, most likely from the training session she just came out of.

 Owen smelled Frostbite’s breath when the ghost leaned down to him to whisper, “Is that her?”

Owen nodded. His was knocked back down into the ground when Frostbite’s large tail swished as the snow ghost barreled after Ophelia. When Owen pulled himself up again, he saw Ophelia ensnared in a crushing hug by Frostbite, looking both stunned and confused.

“Ophelia, my goodness, I haven’t seen you in ages! Yet you’ve hardly grown since. Look! I can still fit you in the palm of my hand!”

Somehow, Frostbite managed to have Ophelia sit on his hand to prove his statement. He held her up, striking a pose that reminded Owen of the strongmen in old-timey circus posters. Ophelia looked disoriented, not quite processing what was happening as fast as it was happening.

“It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.” She drawled out.

“Careful, Frostbite,” Mr. Fenton called as he emerged from his car. “Don’t forget, she’s human too.”  
  
Frostbite gave a nod and lowered Ophelia back down to the ground. She must not have processed that she needed to stand, for as soon as she was set down she fell over onto the grass. Owen was quick on his feet and hurried to her.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

Ophelia propped herself on her elbows and smiled at him.

“Just a little stunned, I'm fine.”

“Need a little help up?” Owen asked instinctively.

“I'd love some,” she said in a tone he wasn't quite sure was meant to be sarcastic.

Smiling, Owen held out his hand for her to grab. The minute her pale white hand grabbed his, and intense cold stung him. Not only stung him, but it felt like all the heat in his body was getting sucked out through his hand. The intense chill made Owen flinch and let go of Ophelia's hand, making her fall over once more.

“I'm sorry!” Owen stammered. He reached out to help her up again but Mr. Fenton stepped between them.

“It's alright,” said Mr. Fenton, his back to Owen, “I got you.”

In a swift motion, Mr. Fenton picked Ophelia up and set her back on her feet, only letting go when seemed sure she was stable again. Didn’t he get cold too? If he had, he certainly wasn't showing it.

“Thanks, Daddy,” Ophelia said once she was on her feet.

“I really am sorry,” said Owen, too scared to look in the direction of Mr. Fenton.

“As am I,” said Frostbite, “It has been such a long time since I’ve been in the presence of the Great One and his offspring.”  
  
“It’s okay, Frostbite,” Mr. Fenton said with a warm smile. “And you don’t need to call me the Great One, I haven’t really done much to earn that title.”

“You and your modesty, Danny Phantom. What do you call saving the entire planet from that asteroid?”

Mr. Fenton shrugged.  
  
“I’d call it a group effort. Tucker designed the machine and the entire Ghost Zone helped power it. I just had one small idea.”

Owen was surprised. Everyone talked about Phantom Planet like it was a legend greater than the Twelve Labors put together. The day the Earth was saved became an international holiday (but since it happened in the summer it didn’t affect schools all that much). Yet here was Mr. Fenton, the great hero himself, playing it off like it was nothing. How could Poindexter say someone like this was ever scared of anything?

“And what would you call defeating the Ghost King all by yourself?”

Mr. Fenton’s face darkened.

“I wouldn’t call that a victory, for one. Not when he’s still out and all of the Ghost Zone is homeless.”

Ophelia gave her father a hug around his waist, a looking up at him with a comforting half-smile and eyes telling him not to blame himself. Mr. Fenton returned the affection with a smile of his own and a hand to her head.

“But you didn’t come all this way to talk about my not-so-glory days. She has an ice core that needs to be checked out.”

“Actually, Dad,” Ophelia said while pulling away, “Is it okay if I hang out with Owen first? I haven’t seen any of my friends this whole time.”

 For the first in his life, Owen saw Mr. Fenton nervous.

“I know, sweetie, but I think we should have you checked out first before you meet up with anyone.”

“But Dad, I’ve been doing so well, I haven’t frozen anything for three days. I promise I’ll head straight home the moment I get a chill. Please, Daddy.”  
  
Ophelia proceeded to give her father a pout that reminded Owen of those sad puppies in the old ASPCA ads. Mr. Fenton raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t you think you’re getting a little old to pull the puppy face?”  
  
“Only if it stops working.” She said, her eyes shimmering a little.

Mr. Fenton still seemed nervous, yet he smiled down at her.

“It still works,” playfully he grumbled. “You and your big eyes.”

“That’s your own fault,” she said while giving her father another hug, “you gave me the big eyes.”

Mr. Fenton hugged back briefly before pulling away.   
  
“Okay, you can go hang out with your friends, but the first sign of a chill you come home, alright?”  
  
“Alright”

“And if not, get back here before dinner.”

“I’ll try”  
  
“You’ll do. I’m serious Ophelia, we’ve waited too long already getting you an expert, and with everything else that’s been going on-“  
  
Ophelia’s eyes flashed a pale green. She took a step back from Mr. Fenton.   
  
“Dad, I’m fine, really, stop worrying over me.”

“If only I could.”

Mr. Fenton turned to Owen, which felt like a jolt of electricity was shot into him that only got worse when Mr. Fenton went up to him.

“You’ll text me if anything happens?” Mr. Fenton asked, a tone less accusing than Owen had expected.  
  
“I don’t have your number, sir,” he said, surprising himself with the “sir”.

“Have Ophelia give it to you, then.” Leaning in, he whispered, “And keep an eye on her in case…let me know if she’s acts a little off.”

“Off?”

There was a look of concern in Mr. Fenton’s eyes, it reminded Owen of that night Ophelia and Darcy were attacked.

“You know that trial coming up, the one that’s been on the news all the time?”

“You mean Masters’?” How could Owen not? Within a day of the arraignment, the entire block was flooded with press. They mostly swarmed around the Fenton’s house and Mr. Foley’s down the street, but there were a few that would ask the neighbors about the Fentons. That was how Owen first heard about the trial. It had only died down a couple of days ago, the reporters having lost some interest in the story and not getting enough for their efforts.

Mr. Fenton flinched at the name Masters and quickly shushed Owen.

“Yes, that one. Ophelia’s been taking it pretty hard. Her ice powers are triggered by stress, especially anything that involves Masters or the trial. Just be very careful what you say to her and watch her. She hasn’t had an episode in years but with all that’s been going on it doesn’t hurt to be careful.”

Owen gave a nod. Mr. Fenton smiled.

“Thank you,” he said, sounding more genuinely grateful than Owen’s ever heard in his direction. “You know, I think I would’ve really liked you if you stayed friends with my daughter.”

“Thank you?”

Mr. Fenton turned back to Ophelia.

“Get back before dinner, and keep your phone on you.”

“I know, Dad,” said Ophelia as she ran past her father. She grabbed Owen by the arm and dragged him off towards the sidewalk. “Come on, let’s go somewhere human.”

Owen tried to catch up with her pace, hoping not to be dragged all the way to…wherever they were going. He turned back to the Fenton house.

“It was nice meeting you,” he said while waving to Frostbite.   
  
“It was nice meeting you too, human boy,” Frostbite said before the two disappeared around the corner.

“He’s nice,” Owen said to Ophelia, “a bit odd, but nice.”

“Well, you know, he probably thought you were odd.” Ophelia said.

“He thought I was you.”

* * *

Upon entering the house, Cujo went straight to growling at Frostbite. He took on his monstrous form before Danny and the Frostbite could calm him down and convince him that the snow ghost was not an intruder nor an enemy. Once he shrunk down to his usual size, Cujo to pawing at Frostbite with friendly yips.

“Sorry about this,” Danny said, “He’s been stuck in the house all day, it makes him go a little stir-crazy.”

“Not to worry, Great One,” Frostbite said, picking up the small dog to pet. “I have seen beasts much greater and much less friendly than this one.”  
  
“I wish I could be surprised to hear that.”

Danny led them into the kitchen. Frostbite tried a few times to find a comfortable seat that could support his weight before making one out of the booth table in the breakfast nook. Cujo immediately hopped up and curled up next to him. Danny reached into the fridge for a soda, offering one before taking one for himself.

“So, how is your child doing with her ice powers?”

Danny paused before he could take a sip.

“Um, well, you can see for yourself when you check her ice core.”

“Yes, but I’d like to hear from your experience as well. It’s good to know what she’s responding to and what she needs further training on.”

Danny set the soda can on the kitchen counter and rested his palms flat on the surface.

“I’ve only given her the basic stuff, taking everything step by step, it’s not like there’s a monstrous plant ghost to make us have to rush things along…”

“You look distressed, Great One.”

“Please don’t call me that, I wasn’t being modest when I said I didn’t deserve it.” Danny sighed, unsure what to say. “It’s just…she has been doing very well skill-wise. She’s excelling way past what we were expecting, she doesn’t even seem cold anymore, but…her power seems to be triggered by stress…and with that trial coming up…she refuses to testify, but I think the thought of it is upsetting to her. Frankly, I don’t blame her, everything about it makes my skin crawl…what I’m trying to say is she’s doing well but she’s got moments where she loses control and everything gets covered in frost.”

Frosbite face turned solemn. He stared down at Cujo while he petted the top of the small dog’s head.

“I remember hearing about what happened to your family, all those years ago. It only feels like yesterday, but then at my age everything feels like yesterday. It wasn’t just the act itself that horrified me, not even that it happened to you, though I consider you one of my dearest friends. What struck me most is that it happened during the annual Truce. I don’t know if any of the younger ghosts respect it as much anymore, but when I was young in my afterlife that was one of the most sacred of traditions.”

Danny’s jaw clenched at the thought of the Truce. Sure, to Frostbite it may be a sacred tradition of peace and compassion towards your fellow ghost, but to Danny it became the excuse the ghosts hid behind that night when his family needed help the most. Maybe if the Far Frozen wasn’t so far from the Fenton Portal II or Vlad’s lair, he would’ve gotten that help and there wouldn’t be a trial now.

“I am sorry this is happening to you,” Forstbite said, “And that it fell at such a horrible time for your family.”  
  
“If it’s alright with you, I’d rather not talk about it.” Danny said, sounding unintentionally harsher than he wanted. “I didn’t have you come all this way just so we can wallow in my miseries. My daughter needs help, more than I can give to her.”

“Of course,” Frostbite said with a nod. “Well, from what you tell me, she seems to be progressing very well. The instances of frost is perfectly understandable with what’s been going on, so hopefully it will go away on its own once the worst of her stress is dealt with. I’ll do what I can to help her suppress those instances, but I feel that would be better addressed with proper counseling. But of course, I’d have to see her use her powers myself and get a reading at her ice core before I can say anything for certain.”

“So she’ll be okay?”

“Like I said, I’ll have to see how she uses her powers before I can say for certain, but I think this will be the least she’ll have to worry about.”

Danny knew that meant much, it was the verbal equivalent to a shrug if anything. Yet a small part of himself felt hopeful at hearing those words, enough for just sliver of a smile to break through.   
  
“For her sake, I hope you’re right.”

* * *

“You sure you should order that so soon before dinner?”

Ophelia had dragged Owen to the Nasty Burger. Apparently, she hadn’t been there in a while and was actually craving Nasty food. Laid out on the table was a large order of fries, onion rings, and a plate of vegetarian chili cheese fries (why she needed two orders of fries Owen would never know).

Ophelia smiled. She bit into an onion ring, ripping out the onion part and leaving the batter shell to crumbled in her fingers.

“You know, you’re the only person who’s nagged me about eating something.”

Ophelia pushed the plates of onion rings towards Owen. He took one and dipped it in the puddle of ketchup on the empty side of the plate.

“I’m not nagging, I’m just worried you’ll spoil your appetite…wow, I sound like my mom.”

Ophelia giggled, covering her mouth so none of the food would fall out.

“You don’t need to worry about me spoiling my appetite, in fact this is the first time I’ve actually had any kind of appetite since I got suspended.”

“Suspended? I thought you were just on a sick leave?”

“That’s what they call a suspension when they don’t have enough ground to actually suspend you.”

“That hardly seems fair.”

“That's because it's not.”

One of the staff of the Nasty Burger handed Ophelia a milkshake. She took it gratefully and handed them some money for their trouble. Owen looked at the note with wide-eyed surprise.   
  
“Did you just give that guy a ten dollar bill?”

Ophelia shrugged.

“Why not?” she said, tearing the paper wrapper from a straw. “He definitely earned it for putting up with me when I couldn’t decide what to get, especially since veggie-   chili cheese fries aren’t on menu.” She stuck the straw into the shake and took a sip. “Mmm, double fudge malt.”

“I don’t think I’ve had that before.”

“You wanna try it?”

“You don’t mind me taking a sip?”

“As long as you don’t mind some backwash.”

“Of course not. For all I know, you might have magic healing spit.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes.   
  
“I’m half ghost, not half Gem, though admittedly that would be awesome too.”

She pushed the glass towards Owen. He held the cup up, unsure whether in thanks or to make a toast, before taking a sip.

“Oh my gosh, that is so good.”

“I know, right? If you want, I can order you your own. Ooh, or we can get a second straw and split this one! It’s so cheesy but I’ve always wanted to do that!”

“You never did that with Richard?”

“Nope, the only backwash he was interested in was still in my mouth. Blech!”

Owen smiled.   
  
“I missed you. Well, I’m pretty sure everyone’s missed you but I miss you the most.”

Ophelia smiled back.   
  
“Aww, I missed you too!”

Owen was enjoying this. He didn’t realize how much he missed her until he was finally in a room with her. It was so nice to see her smiling after so long.  He didn’t get what Poindexter saw to make him think anything was wrong. At the thought of Poindexter Owen remembered his promise. He didn’t want to ruin such a good moment but a promise was a promise.

Owen sighed.

“Look, I know this is stupid but Poindexter’s been asking about you and I promised I would ask-“

“Sidney’s been asking about me? I barely talk to that guy, why would he be asking about me?”

“Well, he thinks you’re being bullied and you not coming to school freaked him out. Bullying is kind of his trigger, you know.”

Ophelia’s face hardened and her eyes dimmed.   
  
“You told him why, right?”

“I did, but he’s still convinced that you’re being bullied. He says he noticed this look since he first saw you. Like I said, it’s stupid, Sidney’s just hung up on his own stuff and he’s starting to see it in other people.”

Ophelia’s lips became a thin line, eyes focused on the dish nearest to her.

“You want me to be honest, right? We promised to be honest to each other before you made that promise to Sid so if I tell you the truth you don’t tell him, or anyone, right?”

Something prickled in his lungs.

“Um, sure, of course.”

For a minute, more than a minute, Ophelia didn’t say a word. Only took a few deep breaths. She was gathering the strength to tell him.

“I’m not okay, I’m really not okay. This whole thing…just thinking about it gives me this tightness in my chest. And I know my parents are feeling the same way, so I try not to cause them anymore stress. But keeping it all inside is just making it worse and I feel like I’m turning into stone, an ice cold stone.”

Owen rubbed his thumb across his hand, still cold from when he touched Ophelia’s.   
  
“You’re ice powers, they aren’t getting better are they?”

Ophelia slid her hands behind her neck and clawed at the back.

“I mean, I’ve aced all the techniques my dad told me but…I don’t know, it’s like I feel colder every time I use my powers. And with…well, what’s been going on, I keep having these freak-outs and I start freezing and I feel worse than I did before. The only good these lessons have done is kept me from visibly shivering. I just hope Frostbite knows how to fix this before I hurt someone, or myself.”

“You have to tell them.”

She shook her head fervently.

“No, I can’t, not with all this. I’ve already let them down not testifying-“  
  
“You’re not testifying?!”

Her eyes flashed.

“Don’t you judge! It’s bad enough knowing that the whole world will be hearing the story and Vlad convincing them that none of that ever happened. They’d make me tell everything, every last detail, while some guy on Vlad’s payroll picks apart every last syllable-“

Owen held out his hands.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I understand. Well, I don’t but…I’m sorry.”  

Ophelia’s eyes dimmed again. She hugged herself and looked away. Owen could see the seat behind her as she made herself transparent.

“I’m sorry, you don’t need to hear this.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. You don’t deserve what you’re going through, no one does.”

She forced a smile that became more visible when she made herself solid.

“Welcome to my world.”

“Ophelia!”

Before Owen could track the origin of the voice, Ophelia was knocked into the booth by a pile of bouncing light brown curls.

“I haven’t seen you in forever!”

The curls tilted up to reveal the smiling face of Ophelia’s god sister. Ophelia’s eyes brightened with her smile, more sincere that the she had a moment before.   
  
“Hey, Marti, what are you doing here?” Ophelia said, returning the hug.

“I’m hungry.” Marti replied cheerily.

“Of course, why else would you go to a restaurant” Ophelia giggled, “Did your dad bring you here?”

Marti shook her head.

“Daddy’s busy”

“Did your mom bring you here?”

“Mommy’s busy, too?”

“Then how did you get here?”

“Francis and me walked here.”

She pointed behind her, where her exasperated older brother had arrived to the table.

“Marti, what has Mom told you about running off like that?”

Owen couldn’t stop himself from scowling. Abi told him about what happened at the pool, how he only showed a small amount of guilt when the pool started to freeze over and how he disappeared before Coach Baxter got curious as to how Ophelia fell in. Ophelia appeared to have felt the same, though her smile stayed intact. Must be for Marti’s sake, Owen assumed.

Marti’s smile turned into a bashful pout.

“Mommy says never to run off from her or Daddy.”

“That includes me too, Marti, especially when I’m watching you.”

“Sorry, Francis, but look, Ophelia’s here.”

Francis’ eyes swept from Ophelia to Owen, unfazed by their appearance save for a small, friendly smile in Owen’s direction.

“That she is, with her boyfriend.”

Marti looked over to Owen, who smiled and waved.   
  
“Hey, you're Millie’s big brother!” Marti cried, “Ooh, ooh, if you two got married, would that make me and Millie sisters!?”

Owen couldn't help but laugh.

“Come on, Marti,” Francis said with a not-quite-patient tone of voice, “you know Ophelia’s not our real sister.”

“Why, because she’s half ghost? That's not nice, Francis.”

“Yeah, that’s not nice, Francis,” Ophelia giggled, her fists on her hips in mock offense.

Francis rolled his eyes, though, as Owen noticed, not as vindictive as he usually does.

“Sorry, didn't mean to be - well, mean.”

“Can we sit with them, Francis, please?” Marti pouted, flashing puppy dog eyes almost as big as Ophelia’s.

Francis seemed reluctant.

“You have to ask them that, Marti, but I think they're in the middle of a date right now.”

Ophelia shrugged.

“It's alright with me, what about you, Owen?”

Owen looked at them all surprised. He thought Francis and Ophelia hated each other, but here they are willing to sit with each other without any adults around to make them? Must be because Marti’s  here, he thought, or maybe because Francis actually feels guilty for causing Ophelia to get taken out of school…

No, it must be because Marti’s here.

Owen shrugged.

“I don't see why not.”

“Yay!” Marti was practically bouncing in her seat. She got even more excited when she saw the food in the middle of the table. “Ooh, chocolate shake! Can I have some, please?”

“I'll get you your own shake, Marti.” Francis chided. To Owen, he asked, “Do you mind watching her while I order our food?”

Once again, Owen shrugged. Francis smiled and walked off, tossing a “brb” over his shoulder. Marti curled up next to Ophelia and hugged her waist, which made her shiver.

“You're cold” she said.

“Then why are you still hugging me?” Ophelia asked

“Because hugs are warm and you need warmth.”

“Aww,” Ophelia looked like she was going to hug back but stopped herself, instead giving a pat on Marti’s shoulder where she was covered by her hoodie and a backpack strap.

“I thought Francis was grounded,” Ophelia said, Owen was able to hear the suspicion in her voice. “And that he was staying with your mom while you were with you dad.”

“We were, but Mommy and Daddy are so busy trying to stop that Ghost King guy that they ungrounded him so he can watch me. I got an A on my math test so Francis took me here for dinner, and he promised to get me an ice cream sundae to eat all by myself.”

“You got an A on your math test? Good job, Marti!”

“But I always get A’s”

“Then you must get a lot of ice cream,” Owen chimed in.

Marti shrugged.

“Sometimes I do, if it's a really hard test, but this one  wasn’t that hard. Do you wanna know a secret?” Marti leaned in to whisper to Owen. “I think Francis just wanted some ice cream, too.”

Ophelia  smiled.

“You know what I think? I think he just wants to spoil you because he missed you so much.”

Marti looked at Ophelia like she had stated the obvious.

“Of course he missed me, it’s the first time we had to stay in different houses. I thought Mommy was going to make him move away to another town like Uncle Danny and Auntie Sam did with you.”

Ophelia’s eyes flickered. It almost looked like she was internally flinching.

“Marti, you know they wouldn't make Francis leave town without you. You're his sister.”

“So are you, and you moved around ever since I could remember.”

“You know that was for a good reason,” Owen said, “They had to move so-“

“Math test aside, how was school?” Ophelia interrupted. She flashed her eyes at Owen, letting him know the mistake he almost made mentioning Masters in front of Marti.

Marti shrugged.

“We’re starting to read this book about a girl who gets magic powers from reading a lot of books. Millie and Luci taught me how to double dutch and I played with my new friend Wybie…oh!”

Marti took off her backpack and went rummaging inside. She was halfway buried into the bag when she happily chirped, “Here it is!” and came back out with a box.

“It’s for you.” Marti said, handing Ophelia the box.

Ophelia looked at it surprised, and so was Owen. It was a white gift box, barely bigger than Ophelia’s hands, tied up neatly with black satin ribbon with a multiple-looped bow on top. It didn’t look like something a seven-year-old could put together on her own.

“For me?”

Marti nodded. “Your friends wanted me to give it to you. They said you were feeling blue and this would cheer you up.”

It was at this time Francis returned to the table, a soda in each hand.

“Okay, so the food will be out in a minute, but here’s some soda for now- where’d that present come from?”

Ophelia shrugged.   
  
“Marti said my friends gave it to her to give to me.”

“Well, it’s no one from Casper, that’s for sure,” Owen told them, “They would have had me pass it along if it was.”

“And it would be weird for any of my ghost friends to have Marti pass it along instead of just handing it to me personally. Oh well, might as well see what it is, right?”

Ophelia tugged at the ribbon, letting it fall off the box and onto her lap. She opened the box. “It’s wrapped in velvet. Whatever’s in here must be pretty fan-“

Owen couldn’t see what was inside from where he sat, but he could see the color leave her face clear as day. Even her irises seemed to lose their vibrancy, turning near white. He had never seen her look so horrified.

“Phé,” said Owen, “Are you alright? What is it?”

Hesitantly, she took the object from the box. The first thing he noticed was the roses. Deep, blood red roses nested on black thorns. It was a music box, round and golden save for the roses tangled around. It looked like something from a hundred years ago, something his great grandmother would’ve had. Owen would have thought it was a nice gift if he didn’t know how much the red flowers terrified her.

“Pretty” Marti said, unaware of what was happening.

“Oh my god,” he heard Francis say.

Trembling fingers opened the box. Music played, trills airy and sweet from the mechanical device. Owen thought it sounded familiar, like something from an old movie or one of those ballets.

“What is that song?” he asked, but right as he did it hit the part of the song that he recognized.

“’Once Upon A Dream’” Francis answered, just as horrified as his god sister. “Or at least the composition it was based on. From _Sleeping Beauty_.”

Owen was confused.   
  
“But why? What’s so special about…oh” It hit Owen. He remembered his mother telling the story to Owen when he was little, and then his sister after that. But she didn’t call the story ‘Sleeping Beauty’, she called it by a different name every time she told it.

“Briar Rose”

Ophelia flicked her eyes in his direction, though it was clear her gaze was fixed anywhere near him. Her eyes went back to the box. Her thumb traced over the inside of the lid.

“It’s engraved,” she said, her voice as distant as her stare. “’To Briar Rose, I wish nothing but good fortune for…’” there was a catch in her throat, as if the words were choking her.

“’for my little princess’”

She dropped the music box. It landed safely back inside the gift box, cushioned in velvet. The lid fell shut, restoring silence to the table. An unbearable silence.

Francis pulled Marti out of the booth and knelt down at her feet. Owen couldn’t have imagined Francis looking so worried until now.

“Marti, listen to me,” Francis said,  trying his best to keep himself together and speak with a calm voice. “Where did you get that?”

Marti seemed to understand something was wrong. The smile that seemed to take permanent residence on her face was gone.

“I told you, her friends gave it to me.”

“What friends? What did they look like? Was one of them a man?”

“No, birds. Big ghost birds with little red hats. They talked funny.”

“Marti, I told you not to talk to strangers.”

“They weren’t strangers, they knew Ophelia. They called her Briar Rose like the doctors do.”

Francis pulled her into a hug, his face turned into sheer panic now that his sister couldn’t see. Owen didn’t fully understand what was going on, but he was sure he had a better idea than Marti.

“What’s happening, wha..who is she talking about? Who sent her that box?”

“Don’t be stupid, Dodgeson,” Francis snapped, “You know exactly who sent it. Those vultures work for Plasmius.”

Owen’s eyes went wide and turned back to Ophelia. She was paralyzed, hands posed like she was still holding the music box. He could see her breath, blowing in like a fog machine when she began to hyperventilate. There were tears trickling down her face but stopped at her cheek, frozen solid in place.

“Ophelia? Are you okay?”

There was no response. She was shaking now. No, she was shivering. She was turning blue, her hair turning white. She looked like the photos he saw when Abi told him about the pool incident, but much, much worse.

“Oh my god, Phé!” Owen jump out of his seat to rush to her side. He was yanked away by the back of his shirt.

“Don’t touch her!” Francis cried out, ushering Marti behind him, “You’ll freeze yourself solid!”

“Well, what do you think we should do then!” Owen shouted back.

“I don’t know, her episodes never had a subzero power-up!”

Ice creeped around her, but it seemed to stop after a few inches. Ophelia must be pulling it back, Owen thought. That couldn’t be good. She was shaking harder and turning bluer. Her nose, lips and fingers were a shade so dark that it almost matched the black of her nail polish.

“Can she get hypothermia?” Owen asked.

Francis rolled his eyes.  
  
“Oh, yes, I’m her god brother so I’m automatically an expert on everything half ghost.”  
  
“Really, you thought now was an appropriate time for sarcasm?”

Before a fight could ensue, they were stopped by a loud thud. Owen turned back to Ophelia, who was now collapsed under the table. She must have knocked over the music box when she fell, because the song started up again. The cheery, lighthearted music of his childhood could not have been a worse fit for the moment.

“Phé!” Owen tried to go to her again, but once again Francis tugged him back. Francis’ free hand had his phone, dialing a number.

“What do we do?” Owen demanded. Francis glared at him.

“’We’ don’t do anything. I need to take Marti home and turn on all the security measures.”  
  
“What! You can’t just leave me here to handle this on my own, I don’t know the first thing on what to do.”

“He threatened my little sister, Owen! What do you think I care more about right now?”

“What are you talking about? He sent that box to Ophelia-”

“But he had Marti deliver it to her. Why do you think Plasmius would do that when he could have easily left it on the Fenton’s doorstep or in Ophelia’s locker at school? It was a message. He wanted to show that he can get to any one of us if he wanted to and he doesn’t even need to leave his prison cell to do it.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Marti ask, her eyes glossy with the threat of tears, “Why is she on the ground and blue?”

“You did nothing wrong, Marti,” Francis consoled her. “It’s just….it’s a grown up thing. Come on, we’re going home.”

“But what about Ophelia?”

“I’m calling Mom right now, she and Uncle Danny will take care of her.”

Francis took her hand and started leading her to the exit. He put his phone to his ear while he waited for the call to go through.

“Wait, what am I supposed to do!” Owen shouted.   
  
Francis turned to him, his phone still at his ear.

“Wait for Uncle Danny and my mom to get here and don’t let anyone touch her. Do you have Uncle Danny’s number?” Owen shook his head. “I’ll text it to you as soon as I get off the phone with my mom. Call him, tell him everything, he’ll tell you what to do. Whatever you do, just don’t – Mom, we’ve got a situation.”

And with that, Francis walked off, not saying another word to Owen. Owen went into a panic.

“Don't do what? DON’T DO WHAT?”

But Francis had already disappeared, into the crowd forming around their table and out the door. The last Owen saw of either Foley kids was a scared Marti waving goodbye. He turned back to Ophelia. She looked like she was unconscious under the table, but her body was still shaking. He was going to reach out and touch her when his phone pinged. He stepped back and checked his phone. He didn’t recognize the number, but he guessed it was Francis.

 

_Here’s his contact, tell him everything  
Whatever u do, do not touch her_

Attached was a contact labeled “Uncle Danny”, with maybe three different numbers, an email address, two different work addresses, and what may have been every social media account Mr. Fenton had. It was weird, having all those contacts on his phone, and that was excluding the fact that it belonged to _the_ Danny Phantom. But Owen couldn’t relish on it, he could only feel relieved that he was getting help.

“Wait, how did Francis get my number?”

* * *

Abi’s dad’s shift was just about to end, and so was her candy striper shift. She was just getting ready to go home when her dad got called about an incident at the Nasty Burger. Code Phantom.

Her dad went to answer the call, leaving Abi to wait and worry until he returned.

The ambulance arrived right around the same time Mr. Fenton did. A ghost was with him. Some crazy abominable snowman with ice for an arm. Abi had seen a lot of ghosts in her life, but she couldn’t stop herself from staring at this one. This ghost was by far the strangest. Her dad and another EMT were wearing their thick jackets and thick gloves that made Abi think of oven mitts. They wheeled in a cocoon of thermal blankets strapped to a gurney,  all Abi could see underneath were blue lips producing fog of blue mist. The air became colder as they passed by, sending a temporary chill to Abi’s core.  There was no doubt in her mind who was on that gurney.   
“Oh my god, Phé!”

“Abi, don’t!”

Her dad blocked her before she could get too close. She had reached out an arm towards her friend and immediately pulled back when she felt a stinging in her fingertips. She pulled back and found frost in on her fingers, whiting out the iridescent pink of her nail polish.

“You can’t touch her,” her dad explained, “she’s like liquid nitrogen right now, your fingers might shatter on contact.”

Abi pulled her hand close to her chest, holding it with the other hand. Her fingers were already wet from the ice melting. She nodded to her dad, “I guess I shouldn’t risk it, considering I need my fingers.”

She watch as Ophelia was passed over to the doctors. After the a few sconds of shouting and an announcement over the speakers, the doctors were rushing her down to the special part of the Emergency Room made for ghosts and halfas alike.

“Mr. Fenton!” Abi called, leaving her father to rush after him. Mr. Fenton barely stopped and turned to her. He looked annoyed with her, which made her feel embarrassed, but he also looked scared. The thought of _the_ Danny Phantom being scared terrified Abi.

“Oh, Abby, hi,” he said, “Sorry, I’ve got to go.”

“She froze over again,” Abi blurted, “What happened? She’s worse than she was in gym.”  
  
“Look Abby, I’ve got to-“  
  
“No you look! I haven’t seen my friend in over a week and when I’m finally in the same room as her it’s the ER. I thought you took her out of school to help her get better, why is she getting worse?”

Mr. Fenton looked mad at her now, which made Abi understand why Owen was so scared of him. But once again there was another emotion there, too. Guilt, maybe?

He looked back to the gurney, before it disappeared behind double doors.

“I’ve got to go,” he said as he rushed after the gurney.

Abi just stared for a moment. Why the heck would she say that to Mr. Fenton? Ghost powers aside, he was a parent who’s kid is hurt. If her parents heard her talk to patients or their relatives like that, she’d be in so much trouble. She began to panic when she remembered that her dad was right behind her. She turned to her dad, rambling off before he could get the chance to scold her.

“Omigosh, Dad! I don't know what I was saying, it just came out-“

Her dad held a hand up.

“It's fine, I know you're just worried about your friend. Just try not to do that again, not everyone reacts so well for being chewed like that.”

“Don't have to ask me twice.”

While she was remembering how to breathe evenly, her phone began to ring. Without even checking the ID, she answered it.

“Hello?”

“Abi, it’s Owen,”

Abi’s eyes went wide. How was she supposed to tell Owen that Ophelia was in the hospital again? He just about freaked out when she told him about the pool incident.

“Heeeeey Owen” she said with an unconvincing cheery tone.

“You’re still at the hospital, right? Is Ophelia there yet?”

“Omigosh yes, she was blue and shivery and wrapped up in these blankets and Mr. Fenton – hey wait, how do you know she’s here?”

“I was there when she froze up..”

“Really? What happened?”

“I don’t know, I think it involves Plasmius. You know Marti, Francis’ little sister? She got this box from some ghost birds to give to Phé and she just…I don’t know, what it was. Next thing I know, she started freezing stuff and passed out.”

“Oh my god,”

“Listen, you’ve got to help me out. Mr. Fenton wouldn’t let me go to the hospital with her-“

“No, nu uh, no way. I’m not helping you sneak into the hospital again.

I'm still  in hot water from the last time I helped you sneak in here. Not to mention I just called out Ophelia’s dad to his face-“

“You called out Danny Phantom?!”

“I'd rather think of him as Ophelia’s dad right now, thanks, I don’t think my heart can handle telling off a superhero.” She heard Owen laugh on the other end. “Don't laugh, I said it in front of _my_ _dad_. You know how my parents are about telling off people at the hospital.”

“I know, sorry, it's just funny that it didn't happen to me for once.”

“Yeah, hilarious.”

“Anyway, I wasn't going to ask to sneak back in. I just wanted you to check for me and see if she's going to be okay.”

“You know she will, she always does, especially when her dad is close by.”

“I know, but please. Just check for me. You don't know what it's like seeing her like that.”

“Um, yeah I do. I was there when she froze the pool, remember?”

“Abi please!”

“Okay, okay, fine. I'll see what I can do, but I'm not making any promises that I'll hear anything. My mom doesn't treat everyone, you know.”

“Yeah, but you always find the news on everything. And your dad was the one who brought her in, doesn't he have to check to see if she's alive afterwards or something?”

Abi rolled her eyes.

“I'll see what I can do, bye!”

She hung up and jammed her phone in her skirt pocket. She turned back to her dad.

“I think I should ride home with Mom tonight.”

“You sure about that? She’s got a graveyard shift tonight.”

“I'm sure, Owen’s never going to let me live it down if I went home before hearing about Ophelia.”

“Okay, but you better have your homework done by the time you get home.”

“Alright, Dad.”

Her dad gave her a quick hug before leaving. Abi waved goodbye before he disappeared behind the doors leading to the exit. With that, she make a pivot turn towards the Non-Corporeal Care Unit, counting up the many favors she will be owed by the end of the night.

* * *

Danny waited outside in the hall while his daughter was once again put in a de-icing chamber to thaw. Frostbite was inside, overseeing the doctors’ exams and performing a few of his own. He heard nothing conclusive yet, though they were all very certain that Ophelia was suffering a severe case of hypothermia. He had to wait until they were finished with their tests and she had received full treatment, but they all seemed certain that she would make a full recovery. None of that kept Danny from worrying, however. Not even close.

He told Sam everything that had happened the moment he got off the phone with the Dodgesons’ kid and gave her an update the moment they reached the hospital. Sam told him she would be on her way, and to stay calm in the meantime. He wasn't sure if he could really be calm at that moment, but he could at least keep himself from freaking out.  
  
Danny barley noticed the phone ring in his pocket. He answered it a split second before it went to voicemail.

“Hello?”

“Hey Danny,” Tucker’s voice greeted on the other side. “How are you holding out?”

“Hey Tuck,” Danny said, a smile making its way to the corner of his mouth. “I’m fine, just barely.”

“How’s Ophelia?”

“She’s hypothermic, that’s the only thing the doctors are agreeing on so far. They’re still running tests but they’re sure there’s no lasting damage, physically that is.”

“I’m sorry, I wish I could go down there to help-“

“But you’re still afraid of hospitals.”

“Pfft, no. After being married to Valerie, there’s little to be afraid of. You remember how she was when she went into labor, she threatened to tear pieces off of me and shove them in unpleasant places if I didn’t get over myself and take her to the hospital.”  
  
Danny laughed, “I remember her using a lot more colorful language than that.”

 Tucker laughed a little as well before falling to a grave silence.

“But seriously, I’ve got the kids here. None of us can leave the house until it’s a hundred percent safe. Valerie’s getting that box checked out for any listening devices or poison or…”

Danny’s smile disappeared.

“I’m sorry about this,” Danny said, “about all of this. Your kids shouldn’t have been involved.”

“They shouldn’t have been,” Tucker said, sounding more serious than Danny had ever heard in his life. “But it’s not your fault. I mean I should have known this would happen, this is why Valerie had me move the kids away. And he used Marti. She barely knows who he is. All she’s heard of him is from the stories the kids spread on the playground.”

Danny couldn’t help but feel sorry for Tucker. Out of their group, Tucker had the least connection to the half-ghost rivalry. In fact, Danny wasn’t sure if Vlad even knew Tucker’s name. Now he and his kids were getting dragged into it, all because he made the poor choice of having Danny for a best friend.  
Danny took a breath and waited until he could speak in a calm enough voice.

“I know it may seem impossible right now, but you have to stay calm. You're kids need you to be their rock, especially Marti. She’s looking to you to see if everything will be alright, she needs to know everything's alright.”

“That's what Valerie said.” Tucker grumbled. “I’ve got to say, I'm glad to have Francis looking out for her. He's always been a good big brother but he's even letting her play makeover to keep her mind off of it.”

“Girls still play makeover? Man, I still remember when Jazz used to drag me across the house and tried to make me wear our mom’s dresses.”

“Did I hear someone say my name?”

Danny fell through his seat, his surprise triggering his intangibility. He looked up from the ground at the familiar face in front of him.

Though she may not have been as lucky as Danny and Sam had been, she looked good for her age. There were only a wrinkle or two around the eyes and a crease around her smiling mouth to indicate that was turning forty. She looked travel weary, with her jeans and blouse wrinkled under her leather jacket and her red hair lazily tied in a knot with a pencil holding it in place. She looked just like their mother, only leaner and maybe an inch or two taller.

Danny smiled.

“Tucker, I'm going to have to call you back,” Danny said once he remembered he was still on the phone, “My sister is here.” He hung up before he could hear a response.

 He sprang from the floor and trapped her in a hug.

“Jazz!” He cried.

“Hey there, Little Brother.” Jazz replied, wriggling her arms free to hug Danny back.

“When did you get into town?”

“I picked her up from the airport today,” Sam said, coming in moments after her sister-in-law. “We thought it would be nice to surprise you and Ophelia.”

Danny pulled away. He smiled at both of them both it dropped into something more solemn.

“Yeah, well, I guess you got a bigger surprise than I did.”

Jazz’s smiled faded.

“Sam had the phone on speaker when you filled her in. Anything new since then?”

“No, sadly. Maybe you can go in and check? You are a doctor, after all.”

“Of psychology, parapsychology, and paranormal science, none of those exactly qualify me to go in there and ask medical questions. And even if I was, it wouldn't be good to interfere with their tests.”

Danny responded with a look of defeat.

“Yeah, I guess you're right.”

Jazz smirked.

“You've been on this planet for thirty-eight years, you should know by now that I'm always right.”

“Nine times out of ten, maybe.”

Jazz tried to swing a playful punch at his arm, but he phased through her fist. They both laughed.

The door to the room Ophelia was kept in opened. Frostbite came out, no longer looking playful as he did earlier that day. This had to be bad news, Danny thought, he never looks that serious unless there’s bad news.

“So what's the prognosis?” Danny asked, already preparing himself for the worst.

“There isn't any permanent damage, and the hypothermia should be gone after another hour in the de-icing chamber.”

“That's good news, right?” Asked Sam.

“In itself, yes, but the cause of the hypothermia is what troubles me most.”

“What do you mean?” Danny asked, “it's her ice powers, what else would it be? She had an episode and it caused her core to act up. You can show her how to keep her from doing that, just like you did with me.”

“Unfortunately, Great One, I don't believe that is possible. You know well enough that her physiology is different than yours, having only half of both the humanity of her mother and the ghost energy you have. Because of this, her ice core is much more unstable than yours. Practicing her ice powers did help to an extent, but now the repeated use is having a negative affect on her human half.”  
  
“Meaning the more she uses her ice powers, the more hypothermic she’ll get.” Said Jazz.

“I’m afraid that is so.”

“So instead of helping her, I've been making it worse?” Danny's heart sank.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to find Jazz giving a reassuring smile.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it, you didn’t know-“

“Which also worries me,” Frostbite interjected, “Even with the different physiology, there would have been symptoms prior to this. She would have still felt cold, just like you did when your powers were coming in.”  
  
“Maybe she mistook it for her ghost sense,” said Sam, “the extra ghost population has made hers and Danny’s act up since. Or maybe she acclimated to the cold because of the ghost sense.”

“I’m not sure about that. She would have felt colder on top of her sense. She wouldn’t have to be visibly shivering, but she would have felt colder each time she had to use her powers. You sure she didn’t mention anything to either of you?”

“Not to me,” she Sam. “Did she say anything to you, Danny?”

Concerned and guilty as he was, Danny still felt a swell of anger bubbling its way to the surface.

“She must have been hiding it so we wouldn’t worry, just like she did when her ice powers first came in. I told her not to keep anymore secrets from us.”

“Well, can you blame her?” Jazz budded in, “You guys are going through a really tough time with that trial coming up. I mean, I’ve only just got here a couple of hours ago and I can feel your anxiety. I can’t even imagine how Ophelia feels it…”

Jazz’s eyes went wide, in an expression Danny recognized immediately. Her “I should not have let that slip” expression for when she dances too closely around a secret.   
“…Not that she’d empathize with you any differently than the average human or ghostly being. That would be crazy.”

Danny looked at her curiously. It didn’t take him long to figure what she was hiding, his eyes flashing involuntarily to the surprise. He looked over to Sam, who was sporting the same expression.

Danny turned to Frostbite, “Could you give us a minute?” He told them as calm and politely as he could. Frostbite nodded and returned to the room where (Danny assumed) he would tend to Ophelia. The moment he was gone, Danny turned back to Jazz.

“Jazz,” Danny said, his suspicion apparent in his tone, “Do you know about Ophelia’s…’insight’?”

Jazz’s eyes widened, the color left her face.

“Is that what she calls it now? How did you…when did she tell you?”

“She didn’t,” Danny said, jaw clenched at the bitter memory, “Vlad found out and bragged about it when he captured us.

Jazz covered her mouth, failing to contain a gasp.

“Oh my god, that was her worst fear.”

“How do you know about it?”

“In a way, I diagnosed her with it. Remember that one summer you had her visit me in California six years back? Well, I noticed how she behaved with other kids and she asked me questions about why everyone acted like they couldn’t see anything. It didn’t take too long to figure that she had an extra sense.”  
  
“You knew about this for six years and you didn’t tell us?” Sam said, shooting an icy glare.

Jazz held her hands up defensively.

“I promised her that I wouldn’t tell anyone before she did.” She said. “Poor thing was so scared when she found out she had yet another power that made her different from everyone else. If I told you, she would never trust me again.”

“You should have told us,” Danny said, noticing too late how loud he was, “Vlad exploited her that power to find out all she knew about us. I wouldn’t be surprised if he used all that information to trigger her and send her here.”

 “You don't get it, Danny. Ophelia has severe emotional after that night. The only reason she's been willing to talk to anyone is using her powers to read people to tell whether or not they are trustworthy. If I had broken my promise with her, it wouldn't have only been her trust in me that would've been shattered. Vlad made her think she’s toxic to the people around her, that getting to know her would put them in grave danger. She wouldn't be able to talk to anyone or have anything remotely resembling a healthy relationship if I told you her secret. She barely gets counseling she needs with you two moving her around and switching therapists. It's a miracle that we found a more accessible child psychologist in the Ghost Zone, and that Ophelia felt comfortable enough to open up to them.”

“Don’t you think I know that? Don't you think I see how miserable she is? I’ve had to see her live with that pain for ten years, knowing that I’m to blame for all of it. I made myself a target to that madman when I was a kid and failed to keep her out of his sights. I had to sacrifice so much, made her sacrifice so much, all just to keep her alive and away from him.”

 Danny returned to his seat by the holding his head in his hands.

“I’m the only one who can help Ophelia gain control of her powers, who understands what she’s going through, and I now I find out through my worst enemy and near fatal accidents that she’s been hiding powers from me. I mean, I expected her to shut me out when she got into her teen years but this was the one thing I was certain she’d let me in on. The whole world and the Ghost Zone depend on me to protect them from each other and I can’t even protect my own family.”

How long has it been since he’s felt such a crushing weight on his shoulders? Was that weight ever really gone? Were those first few years of marriage and fatherhood so blissful that he somehow ignored it? Maybe when that one fear had disappeared all those years ago, the threat of his ugly face resurfacing forever locked away and gone forever, maybe with that one load gone his burden seemed so much easier to carry.

Jazz took a seat beside him and clutched his shoulder.

“Oh, Danny,” she said, “I didn’t know you were having these feelings again. Nothing has changed since last time you went through your guilt spirals, even if Pariah is out. You can’t hold yourself responsible for every disaster just because you have powers that could stop it.”

“That may be true all the other times, but this is my kid we’re talking about. I should’ve known about this, all of this. I thought I was helping her. You don’t know how good it felt seeing her light up the day I started training her in her ice powers. It one of those small moments where I had no doubts that I was doing good, that it was the right thing. But of course that wasn’t true…”

“Don’t beat yourself up about this,” said Sam, “None of this is your fault. You are doing the best you can, we both are. No on will blame you for doing your best your child, certainly not Ophelia.”

Of course she won't, Danny wanted to say, she wouldn't want to hurt them by telling them the truth. If anything, she'll blame herself for everything, or hide the pain until it can't be contained like now. She's too much like her father.

No matter how many times people say that it's not Danny's fault, his conscience will never be convinced.

Danny wanted to say that, but instead he smiled and said, “yeah, you're right.”

* * *

It felt like hours until Owen got a text from Abi telling him that Ophelia was alright and was being sent home. He could get nothing done, still stunned from seeing Ophelia collapse and get carried away into an ambulance by Mr. de Fleur. Or maybe it was shock from being questioned by Captain Grey. If that was how she talked to a civilian Owen only hoped he'd never end up a suspect in one of her cases.

It was late when he finally heard a car roll into the Fenton's driveway, a second car pulling in right when Millie was being put to bed. He would go over to check on her, he really wanted to see her, but Abi warned him that Mr. Fenton wasn't in a good mood. Even with the vague threat hanging over him, Owen didn’t want to upset Mr. Fenton any further.   

He sent a text to her, _are you ok?_  The three dots on the screen told him she was typing something, but after a few minutes, they disappeared.

“Hey Owen,”

Owen jumped in his seat at his desk, knocking the chair and sending him down with it.

“Oh shoot, are you okay?”

A pair of black-stockinged feet approached him. He clambered out of his chair and got to his knees just as Ophelia knelt down to him. Both blushed when they noticed how close their faces were.

“Um, yeah, I'm fine. This is only the second time a ghost has startled me…or is it more like first and a half?”

Ophelia smirked, despite her eyes not expressing the emotions to match.

“You’ve had an eventful day, Mr. Dodgeson.”

She got up and held her hand out. Hesitantly, Owen took it and let her pull him to his feet. Her hands weren’t as cold as earlier, it felt like she had poor circulation rather than being made of ice. Those de-icing chambers must really do the trick, he thought.

Once Owen had got to his feet, Ophelia pulled her hand away. She clutched her upper arm, eyes flicking between him and the floor.

“I’m sorry about today,” she said in a quiet voice, “you didn’t need to go through that.”

“Why are you apologizing? You were the one that got….I don’t know what happened to you but I know you shouldn’t have gone through that.”

Ophelia shook her head. She turned on her heel and began to pace around the room.

“I just overreacted. It’s embarrassing that I still react like that-“

“Wait, _still_? As in this has happened before?”

Ophelia’s nails dug into her arm. Her whole body was tense, even when took a deep exhale.

“He’s sends these ‘gifts’ to me at least once a year, just to scare my dad by scaring me and making us have to move away into another town. Usually he does this on my birthday, which is why I didn’t celebrate my fourteenth back in September – sorry I forgot to mention my birthday until now, please don’t get me a gift.”

Her hands curled into fists, which began to glow with ghost energy. When she turned to him, he saw that her eyes were glowing as well.

“He crossed a line bringing Marti into this. She’s only seven, for crying out loud! I mean, I was younger but…” She looked at Owen and her eyes dimmed, as if she became aware that he was there. She looked down at her hands and shook away the glow, looking embarrassed about the whole thing.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t come here to go all crazy on you.”

“No, no, it’s fine, I’m glad you’re willing to open up to me. I mean, you don’t have to if it’s going to trigger you again.”

Ophelia smiled meekly. The smile was short lived and replaced with a frustrated groan and a stamp of her foot.   
“This isn’t fair to you! You shouldn’t have to put up with so much ugly – I shouldn’t have to make you put up with it. You’re a good, _normal_ person, you should be worrying about whether your acne is acting up not about whether your super-powered girlfriend’s PTSD is acting up.”

With that statement it hit Owen. He had been there when she was kidnapped and when people have tried to kill her, he had known that she sometimes acted strangely and had been jumpy about one or two things once or twice. Never, though, had he ever once considered that she had an actual trauma.

Ophelia held her hands up.   
  
“Look, before I get all crazy again, I wanted to say thank you. Abi told me you sent her to check on you, and I know you didn’t tell my dad about me hiding my chills and thank you for all of that. I shouldn’t have put you in that position, I was just scared. I’m always scared about stupid things and I do even more stupid things that turn lethal and thank god it was only lethal to me for once.”  
  
Owen took a step forward. Carefully, he took Ophelia’s hands in his. He wanted to hug her, but he wasn’t sure how comfortable she would be with that. She wasn’t good with contact at the best of times, let alone when she was already jumpy.

“I don’t understand what you’re going through right now, but you shouldn’t feel so bad about yourself. I do stupid stuff all the time and that’s when I’m not scared. I’m pretty sure if anyone else were in your shoes, they wouldn’t handle anywhere near as well as you do. You’re a titanium teen, and I’m glad I can help you any way I can.”

To his surprise, Ophelia quietly chuckled and shook her head.

“You know nothing, Owen Dodgeson.” She looked at him, eyes giving away the conflict underneath. “You are the most trustworthy person I could ever hope to find, and I’ve been giving you the bare minimum of my trust. You deserve so much more, I know it, but….my….instincts…everything’s telling me to trust you, but after Richard I can’t even trust myself sometimes.” Another confusing laugh, “I don’t think I’ve ever known what’s right-side up.”

Owen’s forehead crinkled so tight he could feel it. Nothing she said made any sense. He wondered if this was a sign of another freak out coming in. He wondered if he should call Mr. Fenton and hope that he won’t be upset with Ophelia being in his bedroom.

“Um, Phé, what are you talking about?”

Ophelia smiled. She put a hand to the back of his heads, her fingers combing into his auburn hair.

“What I’m talking about is that I trust you, more than anyone I’ve over met outside of my family. And I’m going to trust you with something, and you’ll be the first person I’ve willingly told anyone about before. Just…I don’t know what you’re going to see or whatever…just don’t freak out.”

“You know that telling someone not to freak out is as effective as telling someone in a high wire not to look down.”  
  
“Yeah, I know, but just try, okay?”

She put her other hand behind his head and used it as leverage to pull up to his face. Her lips touched his, and his mind was flooded. He felt things which he somehow knew were not his own. He saw images flash inside his mind, stronger than any dream he could remember but nothing like real life. He saw the Ghost Zone, more beautiful than he ever saw in pictures and fully populated. He saw stars, and the Earth right below him through a window. He saw houses and school yards and children, all strong yet soft like a memory. He felt his skin prickle like it was pins and needles numb. He saw red flowers that filled him with dread and panic. He heard screaming, crying, and felt like doing the same.

Every person he saw had something inside them. He had never seen it before but it was so plainly there he couldn’t understand how no one could see. Stranger than that, he saw himself. He was a cloud of emotions and visions, but there was one feeling that stood out among the rest. 

All of this happened within a span of seconds.

When Ophelia finally pulled away, he heard himself gasp. Every part of him was tingling. It reminded him of third grade when he got to touch the Van de Graaff generator and he felt the current go through his hand and made his hair stand on end.

“Wow”

“Yeah. Like I said, I have no idea what you saw, so sorry if there was anything in there that was unpleasant.”

He couldn’t say anything, he was too busy trying to process what exactly happened. It was her, he heard somewhere in his muddled thought, what I felt was her.

“You…you see that all the time?” he managed to say.

Ophelia nodded.   
  
“Welcome to my world.”


	26. People v. Plasmius, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vlad is put to trial for the events described in December 25th

Vlad wasn't the least bit surprised when he heard he had a visitor. With all that has happened since Daniel’s last visit, it was a wonder the boy hadn't come back sooner. Against the advice of his attorneys, who were there to consult him in the upcoming trial, Vlad chose to see his visitor. He was more than capable of handling himself.

When the guards led him into the room, he was disappointed and perhaps a little intrigued. Instead of Daniel, his visitor was his old pawn. He had kept tabs on Captain Gray along with the Fentons, but he had not seen her in person since his return to Earth until now. It was one thing to see a photograph in a newspaper or a video feed from his surveillance bugs, but seeing her in the flesh was somehow a greater confirmation that she wasn't the teenager he had groomed into a ruthless ghost hunter and unwitting spy so long ago. Seeing others grow older is strange when you yourself couldn’t age.

She was leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the table. Her eyes were towards the barred windows for only a moment before darting straight at him. Never had he seen her direct so much hatred towards anyone before now, it was almost intimidating.

Almost.

Vlad returned the glare with a warm smile. They always hated it when he acted like they were friends, if they weren't scared to be in the same room as him. On cue, the glare turned into a sneer. She may not be Daniel, but he'll certainly have some fun with this visit.

Valerie didn't detach herself from the wall until he was secured to the table and the guards had left the room. He could tell by the way they exchanged looks that the guards were nervous about the whole thing, but what did they expect would happen? Were they afraid he was going to somehow break through his restraints and attack Ms. Gray? Or were they worried that _she_ was going to do something to _him_? That would be interesting, being able to push her so far that she was willing to throw away her career and try to kill him on the spot.

“Ms. Gray,” he greeted, the smile still tacked to his face, “what a surprise to see you after all these years. What brings you all this way to see me?”

Without a word, she pulled an evidence bag out of her coat pocket and dropped it onto the table, making a loud thud. The plastic of the bag was crinkled, but he could still make out the shape of the music box inside. Vlad did his best not to smile when he saw it.

“Is that an antique? How charming! I haven’t seen one of these since I was a boy. Where did you get it?”

“Cut the crap, Masters.” Valerie said. She pulled the chair in front of her and flipped it so the back was facing the table. She straddled the chair and leaned against the back.

“You sent that to Ophelia.”

“And how could I have possibly done that? They monitor all communications I make within these walls, aside from correspondents to my attorneys. And it’s not like I can fly through these walls and hand it to her, at least not anymore.” He tugged at the chains, bringing emphasis to the inhibitor cuffs around his wrists.

“You always find a way.”

“Is that the only evidence you have? ‘You always find a way’? I would’ve expected more from the Commanding Officer of GHCU. No wonder Amity Park has such a high crime rate.”

Valerie’s fingers curled tighter around the back of the chair. Her face stayed the same, but he knew the hatred was bubbling beneath the surface.

“What exactly do you have to gain by intimidating Ophelia? She wasn’t planning on testifying anyway, and when I do prove that you sent it not only will it jeopardize your case but you’ll get charged with obstruction along with it.”

“If I were to have sent that to Ophelia, I suppose I would’ve sent it to let her know I’m thinking of her. I haven’t seen the dear girl since my arrest. I haven’t heard a thing about her nor has there been any attempt in her coming to visit me. Don’t you send gifts to your children when you can see them?”

Valerie sneered when he mentioned her children. Vlad’s smile grew wider.  
  
“I am getting the impression that you’re not really hear concerning Ophelia’s safety.”

“You’re impression is wrong,” Valerie clipped.

“I believe I heard some somewhere that your ex-husband moved back into town.

How is that? It must be nice to see your children after such a long time of them living in another state. Or perhaps not, honestly I don’t see you as much of a mother.”

“You do _not_ get to talk about my children _at all_. This is about you-“

“No I believe this is about you. If this is really about an intimidation charge you wouldn’t have come here without at least one piece of solid evidence. You’re here because something hit a nerve and you think I’m responsible. Now as we both are very busy, how about we skip this little show and dance of yours and you tell me what you’re really here about.”  
  
“I’m here because you triggered my goddaughter and got her sent into the hospital for the second time this month.”

“Oh please, if you were so concerned about what I did to the Fentons you would’ve visited me as soon as I was arrested.” He smirked knowingly, “Did something happen to your children?”

“I said you don’t get to talk about my kids!”

_There’s the nerve._

“So this _is_ about your children. What exactly have I done? Did I offer Martha candy from the back of a van?”

“Don’t act dumb, you know exactly what you did. My baby wasn’t even born when you came back to Earth. She has one nothing to you, she barely even knows who you are.”

“Perhaps if you spent less time on your jet sled and more time with your children like a real mother, there wouldn’t be any chance for anyone to do whatever you think I’ve done.”

Valerie remained tense, but tried to hide it by cracking a smile. Vlad wondered how many people she has interrogated in her career, and if any of them had ever gotten under her skin as well as he has.

“I don’t believe you should be one to judge on other people’s parenting skills. The only thing you had close to your own child you tried to melt.”

Vlad shrugged.

“Danielle’s nothing more than a walking glob of ooze. How she has made it this far without completely falling apart remains a mystery to me.”

“Not that you have made any effort to figure it out.”

Vlad would’ve propped his head up were his hands not chained to the table, so instead he conveyed his boredom by slouching back into his chair as far as he could go.

“So is this why you came to visit? Accuse me of a crime with no evidence? Trying to make me care for a failed experiment? Do you hate being around your children so much that you have to waste other people’s time just to avoid them?”

As quick as a blink of an eye, Valerie got up from her chair and flung it behind her. The woman has watched too many cop shows, he thought.

“Don’t you dare talk about my kids, Plasmius, and don’t you even think about coming near them. If I ever catch you or your little minions even so much as breathe in their direction I’ll-“

“You’ll what, Valerie? I’m already in prison and expecting a long, hard sentence ahead of me. Anything else you do will be at a great risk to your career, which you’ve worked so hard to achieve. We both know that you wouldn’t risk it for anything, not even for those delightful children of yours.”

He could see it sink in, softening her anger. She knew he was right, though she wasn’t going to admit it. She must hate herself for it, more than she hated him that was for certain. It was hard to believe she was the girl he had hand picked to chase Daniel around. It was actually disappointing seeing how easily it was to break her.

Once again, she tried to mask her frustration, keeping that glare as if to burn a hole in his head.

“Don’t assume anything about me. I would give anything for my kids. I’d do anything to keep them out of your hands.”

“I’m sure you would,” he said in a tone that was not convinced. With a yawn, he added, “If that is all you have to say then I think it is about time to end our little visit. My trial is tomorrow, after all, and I believe we both have much to prepare for it.”  
  
He called for the guards, who immediately entered. They led him out of the room, leaving Valerie standing there looking flustered. Vlad couldn’t help but smile then.  
  
 It was nice to see people other than his lawyers, even if it wasn’t whom he had hoped for.

* * *

After weeks of selecting the jury, finding an unbiased judge and setting a suitable date, the day had come for the trial of the century to begin. Already the day was starting well for him when he got to change out of the drab prison uniform and into the tailored black suits he was accustomed to. He had to keep on an inhibitor cuff, sadly, though he couldn’t blame them. He doubted he would trust anyone having his powers, even less with his reputation. If that reputation gave him any benefit, it was that he got his own private car to take him to the courthouse, as he was deemed too dangerous to ride with other prisoners.

“I still say we should get him glasses,” said Lewis on the drive over to the courthouse. “It will help him look more vulnerable to the jury.”

“Jeffery Dahmer wore glasses,” said Lomax, not taking his eyes from his papers, “and besides it won't do him much good. Everyone already sees him as a monster, our case is to prove that the crime was committed by a different monster.”

“Sure, sure,” Lewis waved off dismissively, “But I think making him look more human will help compensate in case he does something less than sympathetic.”

“What makes you think I would do anything to jeopardize my case?” Vlad said, offended at the suggestion.

“Well, there’s the incident with the music box. Tell me, are you incapable of controlling yourself or do you like to make sure we earn our paychecks?”

Vlad smiled. He was glad he hired these attorneys. Although he felt he was more than capable defending himself, he knew it would at the very least help his image hiring a professional to handle his case. He made sure to get the best money could buy.

He knew William Lomax from his days back before he blew his cover. Originally, he worked for Vlad as a corporate lawyer, but since then he has branched out and founded his own firm that mainly acted as criminal defense for the one percent. Kevin Lewis was hired into the firm as a favor to his father, an old friend of Lomax. It didn’t take long for talents to show and he earned enough interest in Lomax to become his protégé and, maybe one day, partner. The two together were the most crafty and shrewd legal team around, winning more cases than anyone in the Great Lakes Area. Vlad could not have picked a better defense.  

“That’s enough, Kevin,” said Lomax, “I told you not to talk back to the client.” Turning to Vlad, he said, “He does have a point, Mr. Masters. You got really lucky, the only evidence that connected you to that box is circumstantial at best, otherwise you would be looking at an intimidation charge. But you can’t afford to pull stunts like that again. When you get into the courtroom you have to be on your best behavior. Don’t even so much as smile in anyone’s direction. I know you can act like a civil human being, I was there when you had to deal with lawsuits.”

“I remember,” said Vlad. The lawsuits were partly why he hired Lomax. He settled and won so many cases Vlad hardly ever needed to give the other side a non-corporeal push.   

“Good. Hopefully you remember to let Kevin and me do all the talking. Whatever you say needs to go through us first.”

“Of course.”

“And whatever you do,” Lewis interjected, “do not go near the Fentons.”

“You’re not supposed to interact with any of the witnesses, anyway.” Said Lomax.   
  
“But especially not them,” said Lewis, with a sternness that contradicted his smiling features. “You may think you can control yourself, but even looking at them could be construed as intimidation with your history. I’ve done my homework on the prosecution, the only other ADA with a conviction rate that meets hers, let alone tops it, is Sam Manson.”

“I understand perfectly well, young man,” said Vlad, becoming more and more annoyed with Lewis’ patronizing.

“And I’ll add one more thing,” interjected Lomax, taking a peak out of the window. “You cannot speak to anyone from the press, either.”

Vlad and Lewis both followed Lomax’s eye out the window. They were approaching the front of the courthouse, and every inch of it wrapping around to the end of the block was covered with people. They first passed the waves of the people holding up signs calling him a murderer and a monster and a mutant. The only thing more colorful than the words on the signs were the one coming from the mouths of the people holding those signs when they spotted Masters inside the car. A wall of police officers kept them from getting too close.

“You can see why it took so long to select a jury,” said Lewis.   
  
Vlad raised an eyebrow to the scene.

“It’s not as big a crowd as I expected,” Vlad said with an honest and factual voice.

Lewis looked at him like a madman.   
  
“Are you disappointed that there’s not a ‘Death to Plasmius’ parade running across the city?”

Vlad’s face darkened. He wished that he didn’t have the inhibitors on him so he could properly correct the young attorney’s attitude.

“No, but I did expect something a little bigger I mean after all, I held the world ransom not too long ago.”

That day brought him so much shame but it should at least get the attention and memory it deserves.

“Well then, you should see the comments online. Do you know what the term ‘flame’ means? Not to mention the digital petition to make an exception to the state’s ban on the death penalty just for you.”

“I actually want to look at that petition, I’m surprised people think I can die. Or rather, that I’m not dead already.”

Following the protestors came the press. The flashes went off immediately and questions were flown at him before the car came to a stop in front of the courthouse. His attorneys had to remind him to hold back so they can get out of the car first, to act as shields against the reporters. Lomax offered him a hand to help him out of the car just so he can whisper into Vlad’s ear, “No comment, to anyone.” Vlad received it with a nod and a knowing smile.

* * *

The courtroom was barely quieter than outside, and much more crowded. The gallery was overflowing with onlookers and press. Whoever couldn’t find a seat stood by a wall, wrapping all three in bodies. There were ghosts in the gallery as well, a good amount finding seats and the rest floating just above the rest. Vlad wondered how they were allowed to float since every last one of them was wearing an inhibitor as part of court policy. The officers must have foreseen the crowding and allowed the ghosts to use a limited amount of their power. Just like outside, the cameras started flashing the minute Vlad entered the courtroom, nearly blinding him.

When he made it to his seat he looked out to the gallery to see if he could find some familiar faces. He found Jasmine without any difficulty. It scared him how much she looked like her mother, he even thought he was looking at Maddie for a moment. Beside her was Danielle, who looked a bit nervous being there. She couldn't still be scared of her own creator, could she? Not a moment sooner than he thought that, the two caught him looking at them and met his eyes with dark glares. Danielle even flashed her eyes a bright green in her anger, or maybe it was her poor attempt to scare him, he wasn't very sure. More importantly, he didn't really care. He returned the glares with a friendly wave back, which seemed to aggravate them more.

Lewis caught his hand and pulled it down to the table.   
  
“What did I just say?” he whispered harshly.

Sitting in the row behind them were three ghost women. The green-haired one Vlad recognized as the ghost Daniel and Samantha had as a nanny when Ophelia was younger. He recalled a time not too far back where he sent a ghost to…persuade the young woman to find employment elsewhere. He didn't hear back from said ghost for nearly twelve hours and when he did it was to send their resignation. Beside her was a much paler ghost with blue hair that flowed like a flame from her ponytail. He had the displeasure of learning about her through Skulker, in the not-rare-enough moments where the hunter thought Vlad was the kind of employer he could open up to about his pitiful love life. That one seemed to be the least happy to be here, keeping her arms crossed and eyes rolling between the glares she would give to her green-haired friend. And the third, the redhead on the end of the row, seemed the most comfortable in her courtroom-appropriate attire, and by far the most appealing. She appeared to be the eldest of the three, her age closer resembling his, give or take a few years. She was the only one of the trio to catch him looking, and lowered her sunglasses to give him a suggestive wink. That was all it took for him to remember her, placing a bitter frown on his face.

“Who’s the redhead?” asked Lewis, his voice much less stern than before. Vlad could see he was already attracted to her.   
  
“I wouldn’t go near that one if I were you,” suggested Vlad, “She’ll eat you alive, and not at all in a pleasant way.”

Lewis didn’t seem to be at all dissuaded, but there was a little hesitation there. Vlad did his best not to roll his eyes. As long as kid gets him through the trial, he doesn’t care whatever destructive path he wishes to go on afterwards.

His look around the gallery brought his eyes to the prosecution table. There sat ADA Natalie Fleming, standing in for “the People”. Her hair, a dark red that could almost be mistaken for brown, was pulled back into a French twist. She wore enough make up to keep herself from looking tired or sickly with her pale skin, but not too much to give off an air of vanity (which apparently meant the freckles spattered on her cheeks went without concealer). She had forgone a skirt and wore a light grey pantsuit. Altogether, she looked quite boyish. For a case like his, he had assumed that there would be more than just one prosecutor. Either she thought it was enough of an open and shut case to handle herself or the other ADAs were too scared to put their names on this one. Those people were much smarter than Ms. Fleming, Vlad thought, the poor woman will never live this down.

Fleming took a glance over at his direction. She immediately grimaced and rolled her eyes away. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Lewis had made yet another flirtatious gesture at her.

“And you’re worried about _my_ behavior.” Vlad grumbled.

Lewis smiled mischievously and shrugged.

“What can I say, I like redheads.”

“As do I, but I don’t go out of my way to stare at every last one, least of all when I have a job to do.”

“He’s right, Kevin,” said Lomax, “it’s best for all of us if you keep your eyes in your head and your thoughts to yourself.”

Their conversation was interrupted when the bailiff entered the room.

“All rise,” he called, and the whole room came to their feet. “The honorable Judge Laurel presiding.”

The judge entered from the door behind the bench and stepped onto her seat. Her skin was the same coffee-dark shade as Lomax, which made her deep blue eyes pop. Beside the laughing lines, the judge’s features were not one of a person who smiled often.

“You may be seated.” Said Judge Laurel. The majority of the room that had seats returned to them. Ms. Fleming folded her hands neatly on her table, thumbs resting on top as if pushing a buzzer. “Are the parties ready to proceed?”

“The People are ready, Your Honor.” said Fleming.

“As are the Defense, Your Honor,” said Lomax.

“Very well,” turning to the bailiff, she said, “Send in the jury.”

The bailiff nodded and went to the door leading to the jury room. After a few moments, the bailiff returned and held the door open as the jury filed into their box. The weeks of arduous and meticulous selection resulted in twelve of the most diverse individuals to ever share a room. Two of these individuals were ghosts, one female “mortem” (a ghost with a known past life), and one male “manifest” (a ghost with no prior existence). Vlad wasn’t sure about selecting the ghosts for the jury. They may not care about the affairs of the living, no more than a living person may care about matters of the supernatural, but there was one thing that all ghosts hold as a sacred and unbreakable law: the Christmas Truce. If they find any reason to believe that he had made any aggressions during a time of peace, they will condemn him with a guilty verdict then and there. Of course, he voiced this to his attorneys, but they were certain the two wouldn’t cause any more trouble than the other jurors.

“The case of the People vs. Vladimir Masters, a.k.a. Vlad Plasmius, may begin, who will give the first opening statement?”  
  
“We won’t mind if the People spoke first, You Honor.” Said Lomax.

Ms. Fleming shot a look at them that had just a hint of suspicion before rising from her seat and walking to the area in front of the jury box. The look of suspicion was replaced in abundance with a look of grief. She was silent, as if gathering the strength to speak.

“On December 24th, 2018, Daniel Fenton and Samantha Manson arrived at the residence of Jack and Madeline Fenton, Daniel’s parents. They brought presents and their daughter, Ophelia Manson-Fenton.” She paused to swallow a lump in her throat. “She was four years old.

“Later that night, Daniel and Samantha were called away in an urgent government matter, leaving their only child in the care of her loving grandparents. On December 25th, just after midnight, GZPD received a call complaining of a disturbance coming from the Fenton Works building. The responding officer found Jack and Madeline Fenton dead in their living room, their bodies broken by ghostly means, and their granddaughter nowhere to be found. When the child was finally located and rescued, she was almost dead, in a coma that she would not wake from for nearly four months, entangled in blood blossoms, the deadliest plant known to ghost-kind.”

At the very words “blood blossoms” the two ghost jurors flinched as if stung by the plants at that very moment. The humans were no less affected by Ms. Fleming’s tale.

“I apologize in advance, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, for what you will have to hear. To ensure justice for the victims, you will have to hear eye witness testimonies, see forensic evidence, all describing in detail how this man,” She pointed to Vlad, a sharp and determined look in her eye, “Vladimir Masters, or as he likes to call himself, Vlad Plasmius, tortured and killed the elder Fentons and attempted to kill their granddaughter. It’s a kind of story that will follow you throughout your existence. It’ll jump at you from the shadows of your mind and not let go. I wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone, or even hear about it. I have no choice but to ask you to endure through the details so you can decide for yourself whether or not Mr. Masters is not only capable of such a heinous act, but guilty of it beyond a reasonable doubt. You are given a heavy burden, and I thank you for choosing to bear it.”

A sympathetic smile, a sniffle of restrained tears, and the speech was over. A bit dramatic, thought Vlad, but it seemed to have worked.

Once Fleming returned to her seat, Lomax rose from his.   
  
“Beautiful words, Ms. Fleming, you must have been a poet in a past life,” he said in a rather patronizing tone with a smile to match. He then turned to the jury and made his way to them. “We all know about Vlad Masters one way or another. He isn’t painted in flattering light and frankly, he doesn’t deserve much better. I worked for Mr. Masters for ten years before finding out his secret with the rest of the world. I can tell you, he was no better a person before I knew about his ghost half. You can call him a crook, I know I have, and you may even call him a villain without missing the mark, but call him a murderer and a child abuser? He has done many things in his lifetime, which he has freely confessed to and accepted all the consequences for, but murder is not one of them. The People are not wrong, you will have to endure the details of a most vicious crime, but is my client really to blame? Is there really any proof against him other than his unsavory reputation and the simple fact that he is half ghost? I am here because every man is entitled to a fair trial, even shady bastards like my client. I am here to say just because a man has committed some crimes doesn’t mean you can convict him of all crime.”

As expected, the jury didn’t seem all that convinced in Lomax’s statement. But Vlad could see, at least in a few of the jurors’ faces, that the seed of doubt was resting comfortably within their minds. Maybe they were jumping to conclusions, the seed will tell them. Maybe it isn’t as cut and dry as it seems on the media.

The trial is going at a good start.

* * *

“Call your first witness.”

Ms. Fleming rose to her feet.

“The People call Captain Valarie Gray to the stand.”

The doors to the courtroom open, and Valarie entered not a moment sooner. Ms. Gray has always made the effort to look professional, but today, as Vlad quietly noted, her appearance was much more strategic than all the other times she had to appear in court. She wore a simple ensemble of beige pants, a white blouse, and a brown jacket that didn’t look too extravagant nor like something cheap she found in the bottom of her closet. It fit her well, though not enough to look tailored nor to show too much of her curves. Her hair, usually a free-hanging halo of fine curls, was somehow pulled back and tied into a nub. She had just enough make up on to look healthy but not too much to distract or make her seem vain. Vlad wondered if she had spent the whole ten years planning this outfit, making sure that everything was flawless along with the details of this case.

She swore in and took her seat at the stand, all without looking in Vlad’s direction. Perhaps their little chat the other day rattled her cage a little bit. Or perhaps she didn't trust herself to look at him. He wasn't very sure, and honestly, he didn't really care.

“Please state your name and occupation for the court.” Said Ms. Fleming.

“My name is Captain Valarie Gray,” said Valarie, her voice steady with little emotion. “I am the commanding officer of the Ghost-Human Crimes Unit of Amity Park.”

“And what is your relation to this case?”

“Aside from knowing the Fenton family since high school, I was the one who discovered the crime scene.”

“Would you tell us the events occurring from the night of December 24th, 2018 to the following morning, as you recall them?”

“Yes,” Valarie paused, to prepare herself for the testimony she had rehearsed since the very day she would describe. Her head was turned away from him, somewhere between the prosecution’s table and the jury box.

“Admittedly, I wasn’t even supposed to be on duty that night. I planned to take the night off to spend with my family. But when Tucker Foley, my then husband, told me that Plasmius may have returned to Earth, I felt nervous. I left my son with my father and went on patrol. At 12:15am, there was a complaint about noises coming from the Fenton residence. I was the first to respond to it. They gave me and my ex-husband keys to their house a long time ago, so when no one answered the door I used my copy to enter….”

A twinge of pain in her eyes, her breathing rate was noticeably faster. Interesting how a seasoned police office like herself could still be affected by death, even after ten years.

“What did you find when entering the Fenton residence?” asked Ms. Fleming when Valarie took too long to continue.   
  
“The house had clear signs of a struggle. There were burns on the walls from, what I recognized from my experience in the force and as a ghost hunter before that, an spectral plasma ray – a ghost ray, in layman’s terms.”

“And what of the residents?”

“…Their bodies where in the living room, by the staircase. They were bent in places that suggested that several of their bones were broken. And then the blood…” Her whole body tensed as she grimaced, trying her best not to let herself cry in the middle of the courtroom. “There was a copious amount of blood, originating from holes burned through their chests from what I assumed to be ghost rays.”

“Were you aware that there was someone else in the house with them?”

“Yes, Tucker told me when he, Danny and Sam left the house that their daughter, my goddaughter Ophelia, was left in the charge of Jack and Maddie. The moment I saw their bodies I went looking for her, but she was nowhere to be seen, even with the Fenton Specs – a visual device that allows ghost to be seen despite being invisible.”

“What did you do then?”

“I called it into my precinct to begin investigation on the deaths. And then, after I regained some composure, I called my husband.”

“Why did you call your husband?”

“Because I knew that Danny and Sam was with him and they needed to know.”

“What happened after that?”

“I oversaw the forensics team until Danny, Sam and Tucker could make it to the house. Tucker used a program to trace the energy signatures of the ghosts or half-ghosts that had been inside the house recently. It was how we knew that the killer had taken Ophelia into the Ghost Zone. Danny used it to follow the trail to recover his daughter and rescue her from her abductor.”

“And then what happened?”

“Danny left into the Ghost Zone, leaving Sam at the house with us. At around dawn, Christmas morning, there was a loud wail coming from the basement of the house. Sam ran down there, and Tucker and I followed after her. We found Danny in the basement, using his Ghostly Wail in the direction of the Fenton Portal II, which was then closed and destroyed. He was holding something in his arms, wrapped up in his winter coat. I didn’t get to see what it was but I heard Sam screaming when she recognized her daughter wrapped up in the coat. We had little time to assess what had happened, as the house was crumbling  around us, due to the force of the Ghostly Wail. Sam carried her daughter to the ambulance outside while Tucker and I carried the then unconscious Danny out. We made it just before the house collapsed in on itself. Tucker went with Danny in the ambulance truck while I stayed behind to assess the damages and ensure that everyone was accounted for.”

“Do you have any suspects on who could have committed these crimes?”

“Yes, one.”

It was then that Valarie turned to Vlad, shooting him a poisonous glare.

“We suspected, and have since suspected, Vladimir ‘Plasmius’ Masters to be responsible for the deaths of Jack and Madeline Fenton and for the abduction of Ophelia Fenton.”

 Without saying a word, it was decided that Lewis would cross-examine Ms. Gray. He started off by adjusting his tie, keeping his eyes on his papers as he does so.

“Ms. Gray, or would you rather be addressed as Captain Gray?”

“Captain, please, I’ve worked hard for that title.”

“ _Captain_ Gray, what is your relation to my client?”

Valarie’s eyes narrowed at Vlad.

“’Relation’ isn’t exactly the right word to describe it. He took advantage of me as a teenager during a vulnerable time and groomed me into a ghost hunter. All so he could use me to spy on Danny.”

“So I’m guessing that there isn’t good blood between you and Mr. Masters?”

“I doubt there is ‘good blood’ between anyone and Masters, not anymore. If you are insinuating that my past with him might conflict with my professionalism then you are mistaken.”

“I’m not insinuating anything, Captain Gray, I am only asking questions. Is it true that you are on probation for a case that lead to the escape of Pariah Dark?”

“Objection,” Fleming said, shooting up to her feet. “Relevance.”

“It goes to credibility of the witness, Your Honor.”

“Objection sustained, find your credibility somewhere else, Counselor.”

Lewis gave a tight-lipped smile.

“Alright, Captain Gray, you never actually saw my client at all that night, did you?”

“No, I did not.”

“So how did you know that he was there at all?”

“As I mentioned, Tucker’s program found his ecto-signature in the house which Danny used to lead straight to him and where he was holding Ophelia.”

“And you know this because Danny told you that’s what happened?”

“Yes, I don’t see a reason why he would lie about that.”

“Just because _you_ don’t see a reason doesn’t mean he wouldn’t, Captain.”

“Objection!”

“Withdrawn,” he waved dismissively in Fleming’s direction.

“You said that you were supposed to be off duty that night but hearing that Plasmius was back made you go back on, why is that?”

“I was worried that he might do something, and I was right?”

“Don’t you think it’s a little too coincidental that he happened to commit a crime right when you were on duty? I mean, the Fentons have so many other ghostly enemies, did you even consider them?”

“I did, but this incident better fits Vlad’s MO and motive.”

“How so?”

“Most of Danny’s ghostly enemies attack Danny directly and only go after the family if they get in the way. Vlad is known to have a vendetta against Jack and an obsessive interest towards Maddie. The attack seemed to be directed towards them just as much as it would be payback for Danny.”

“So other than Danny’s account and your ex-husband’s program, the only reason my client is suspected of this crime is because you assume he is?”

“An officer of the Law does not ‘assume’-“

“What about a woman with a grudge? Like you said, he took advantage of you when you were a kid. He made you into a ghost hunter why? Because he wanted to spy on some kid that you wouldn’t have had anything to do with otherwise. You can’t tell me you’re not a little angry. You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t want to get even with him if you were given the chance.”

“I already told you, I don’t let my own personal issues get in the way of my professionalism. If I thought I couldn’t get past my personal feelings towards Masters, I would’ve dismissed myself from the case.”

Lewis smirked and walked back to his table, snatching a folder laid out in front of his empty chair.

“You mean like how the Commanding Officer at the time asked you to do, twice, within a year of the incident?”

Valarie hardly flinched at the question. She must have anticipated this, Vlad thought, but did she prepare enough for this?

“That was due to a family issue. My husband and I were separating and proceeding for a divorce.”

“And I assume your ex-husband was concerned about you becoming too involved in the case, just like your C.O. was.”

A flustered look broke through her otherwise neutral façade. 

“My personal life has nothing to do with this case-“

“I would argue that your personal life _is_ this case. Ophelia is your goddaughter, right? Danny and Sam are your friends and godparents to your children. In fact, you took your son to Fenton Works frequently prior to the incident. Is that correct?”

“Yes”

“I bet if they gave you a story, then you would trust them and run with the story even if your instincts told you otherwise.”  
  
“Objection!”  
  
“And since you hate Plasmius so much, more than everyone else, if you hear he’s involved in it somehow you wouldn’t think twice about it and made sure all the pieces fit.”

“Objection!”

“As long as you don’t know or see anything to the contrary you’re perfectly fine with running with a case that you know deep down is on shaky ground-“

“Your Honor!”

“That is enough, Counselor!” Said the judge, followed by a bang on her gavel. “The jury is to disregard Mr. Lewis’ questioning. Counselor Lewis, are there any questions you have for Captain Gray that doesn’t undermine her integrity as a police officer?”  
  
“I do, Your Honor, if you may permit me to ask them.”

“You may, but tread carefully Counselor.”

Lewis smiled and nodded to the judge in thanks before turning back to Valarie.

“Captain Gray, you have worked with Danny Phantom for quite some time now, is that correct?”

“We’ve been working as agents of the law for nearly fifteen years now, and have fought ghostly offenders before that.”

“So it could be safe to assume that you know Mr. Phantom rather well. In your opinion, do you believe that Mr. Phantom is…reckless, when it comes to his crime-fighting?”

Valarie tensed, Vlad smiled. She didn’t want to say anything that would in any way harm the case, but she did not want to perjure herself so blatantly either. She was stuck, and she knew it.

“I have to admit that Danny Phantom, at times, can cause more damage than a police officer would. But you must understand, he has had no official training in law enforcement, he never really learned-“

Lewis was quick to cut her off, earning him a cold glare from the witness stand.

“More damage in what way, Captain?”

“Mainly property damage.”

“Has there ever been any complaints from suspects about Mr. Phantom using excessive force to apprehend them?”

“Yes, but everyone in the force gets at least one complaint. Suspects sometimes make false claims in hopes that it will benefit their case in trial.”

“That’s true, but have you ever seen so many against your average police officer as there are against Danny Phantom?”

“No, but-“

“Have you known Danny Phantom to be more emotionally driven in fights than the average police officer?”

“Yes, but he is not your average police officer. He’s not even with the police.”

“So you willingly allow a super-powered vigilante with no training to fly around the city, creating chaos?” He held up a hand towards Fleming right as she was rising to her seat to call out an objection. “Withdrawn. Captain Gray, with your experience as an officer and working alongside Danny Phantom do you believe, if a situation occurred in which a family member was harmed or endangered, he would be able to take care of it with a level head?”

She grew tenser, sucking in air as if preparing to plunge into deep waters. She released the air and mumbled.

“I’m sorry, Captain, could you speak up for the jury.”

“I said ‘no’. I believe if there were an incident in which a loved one was endangered, Danny Phantom would take rash actions. He might…” She trailed off, looking as if the words were actually choking her.

“Go on, Captain Gray, finish your answer. What might he do in such and occasion?”  
  
Valarie turned to the judge, “Do I have to, Your Honor, I don’t see the relevance to this case.”  
  
“I’m trying to understand your logic in sending off Danny Phantom, whom you say is reckless and acts rash, into the Ghost Zone to confront Vlad alone.”

Valarie turned to him, her cold glare turning into a fiery one.   
  
“Because this was during the annual Truce, GZPD do not intervene with any matters during those times and neither are human law enforcement. Danny, as a citizen of Earth and the Ghost Zone and not an official officer, would have been the only one allowed to enter and rescue his child as a civilian. I had no other option.”

“You could have waited until the day after Christmas to track down your suspect.”  
  
“If we had done that, Ophelia Fenton would have been dead.”

“You didn’t know that for sure at the time. You only assumed so.”

“With two dead and a child missing, it would’ve been reckless to waste any time finding her.”

“So that justifies sending Phantom off to do this little rescue mission, knowing full well the risk of him killing your suspect in the process?”  
  
Valarie bared her teeth, looking ready to climb out of the stand and throttle Lewis then and there.

“That’s not it at-“ She stopped herself.

 Her eyes darted around and she shrank back when she remembered where she was. She recomposed herself, trying to get back to that original neutral expression she had before but instead got the amateur knock-off.

“I know what you are trying to do. You are trying to make it look like I let my animosity towards Plasmius get the better of me, or that Danny is some kind of hot-head loose canon. Yes, I admit that there was some risk letting Danny go alone, but the risk was on Danny’s life, not anyone else’s. It’s true that Danny Phantom is more reckless than the average, more legitimate law enforcer, and that he has a tendency to let his emotions to get the better of him, but he would never take the life of another, no matter who or what they are. Because I let him go into the Ghost Zone, a child is still alive today. For that reason, and that reason alone, I do not regret my decision, and I never will.”

The court anticipated a response from Lewis, another scathing verbal cut into Valarie’s integrity, but instead he gave a solemn nod and mumbled “the Defense rests” before turning on his heel back to their table. He must be saving Roat for Daniel, Vlad assumed, that was smart of him.

The judge dismissed Valarie from the stand, reminding her that she can sit in the gallery for the rest of the trial. Valarie thanked her politely and left the stand with whatever grace and calm she still had in her. Vlad could see that she was rattled, but he doubted anyone else could. All in all it was a good performance from GHCU’s Commanding Officer. She kept as well-composed as anyone could in her position.   
  
Perhaps this near emotionless composure is what drove her husband away.

* * *

“State your name for the record.”

“Doctor James Grahm”

Vlad noted the doctor. He looked to be somewhere in his thirties, so Vlad could only imagine how young he must have looked ten years ago.  His light brown hair was moussed and combed in such an awkward way that, along with the ill-fitting suit and sloppy knot of his tie, Vlad could tell that this man hardly ever styled it for a professional setting. He must be trying hard for this case, just like everyone else.

Ms. Fleming walked up to the witness stand close enough to touch it.

“What is your relationship to this case, Dr. Grahm?”

“I was one of the pediatric doctors on call the morning Ophelia and her father were brought into the hospital. I was also the one who published her condition not too long afterwards.”

“And what was her condition when she was brought in?”

He turned solemn, as if someone told him his mother had passed away.

“She was tangled in blood blossoms. There were cuts everywhere from where the thorns tore her skin. There…the vines burrowed into the skin over where the major veins of her body were. She was in surgery for six hours in order to remove them all.”

Fleming went to the two easels that were set up beside the witness stand. They were holding up poster boards that were covered by black card paper.

“Dr. Grahm, I am going to show you some images and I want you tell me if you recognize them.”  
  
“Yes, ma’am, I understand.”

Fleming’s fingers hovered over the card paper. She turned to the jury with a pained apologetic look.  
  
“Jury be advised, what you are about to see is graphic and unpleasant.” She turned to the card paper. “People’s exhibits 1a and 1b.”   
  
She removed the black paper swiftly in the order she had announced the images being. Immediately the Jury and whatever part of the gallery that could see the boards were in a roar of gasps and muffled cries.

“Do you recognize these images, Dr. Grahm?”

“Yes, they are of my former patient, Ophelia Fenton, age 4, during an examination after the surgery.”

Fleming handed Dr. Grahm a laser pointer.

“Can you point to the injuries you have described?”

Grahm nodded as he took the pointer. He shined a red dot over the images.   
  
“As you can see, the blood blossoms caused a burning reaction on her skin, leaving marks where they came in contact. The small lacerations consistent with the thorns on what we called the blood briars, the thorny vines of the blood blossoms.”

“What are these greens spots near some of the cuts?” Fleming pointed to one of the photographs, where crusty dried green mixed with the dark red.

“That is ectoplasm, dried and scabbed over. When exposed to an atmosphere like the Ghost Zone, her blood would have higher levels of ectoplasm than humans cells or plasma, causing it to appear green instead of red. The exposure to blood blossoms somehow altered the appearance of her blood, making it red. The green scabs are the older cuts, before the blossoms infected and altered her blood.”

The red dot circled around the crook of the elbow, where a large red and green gash sat over the veins.

“These larger cuts are where the briars pierced into skin and entered her circulatory system. You can see where the fibers went under the skin and disappeared into the tissues.”  
  
“And what about these bruises here, around the neck and on her right wrist?”

Dr. Grahm sighed.

“Those aren’t from the blood blossoms. We suspected they were inflicted before she became exposed. The bruises are consistent of a handprint.”

“As in someone grabbed her wrist and throat so tight it left a bruise.”  
  
“The wrist was also fractured, as if it was twisted until it broke. I wish I could say I hardly ever see this in my line of work, especially since I specialize in pediatrics. I didn’t see them right away because of the vines coiled over them, but I have treated enough victims of physical abuse to recognize the injuries anywhere.”

All the jurors had a look of horror on their face. One particular juror, a woman, looked completely heartbroken. She must have a child the same age, Vlad thought. Hadn’t they screened for that? He made a note to discuss this with both his attorneys during recess.

“What were the affects of the blood blossoms on Ophelia?”  
  
“I hadn’t seen anything like it and I’d be lucky never to see it again. The blood blossoms seemed to have been draining her life force. Every second those vines were latched to her, she was getting weaker. I’m certain that if she had arrived to the hospital any later…she wouldn’t have survived…After the surgery, she was in a coma for three and a half months. We were able to see the full affects of the blood blossoms. They invaded every part of the body they could reach. Along with the scars that were burned all along the body, you had the plant’s fibers embedded deep into her tissues, the cells mixed into her blood, feeding off her ectoplasm. It is by far the most invasive, intelligent parasite ever seen in a human body.”  
“Intelligent, what do you mean by that?”

“While she was in the coma, we put her on daily dialysis treatments in hope to filter the cells out of the blood. But no sooner were the treatments complete did the cells would replenish back to their original count. When we finally took the risk of taking her off dialysis, the cells immediately slowed down their growth rate and normalized to a steady, non-lethal count. It’s like it understands that it needs to keep its food source alive and knows how to do it.”

“Are there any lasting affects of the blood blossoms?”

“Until she underwent a surgery to graph her skin, she was sensitive to touch. Any physical contact was painful. She couldn’t access her spectral abilities for a year after she woke up. Any cut she gets could be fatal as the blossoms can grow from the nutrients in her blood and kill her from the inside out. Her development was hindered. She has yet to experience menarche or any other aspect of puberty, so it’s hard to say definitively. However, due to how deep the blood blossoms have affected her, it’s theorized that she will not be able to have children once she’s reached adulthood, half human or full.”  
  
There was a cold pang inside Vlad when hearing this. Of course he knew that the condition had the risk of sterilizing her, but actually hearing it from a medical professional, confirmed in consensus by a collection of others, it somehow made it more real…

 Good, no litter of mongrels from her. And since there was no chance that Daniel and his wife would be allowed to have a second child, the Fenton bloodline dies with Ophelia. The world should thank him.

…Then again, doctors can be wrong.

“Dr. Grahm, is there any chance of reversing her condition?”

The question snapped Vlad out of his thoughts. He wanted to hear the answer, probably more than any other testimony that could spill out in this trial.

Dr. Grahm hesitated. It was a question he had been dealing with for ten years. Him and all the doctors he sent the Fentons’ to be poked and prodded and violated within scientific and legal limits. Perhaps, ten years ago maybe, he received the question with more confidence than he was now.

“That’s what me and a good amount of the medical community, both in the country and internationally, are trying to figure out. When she was still in the coma, I got permission from her parents to publish her case in a medical journal. I hoped that if the case got enough attention, there would be enough doctors to work on the case to eventually find a cure. One of us has to, right?”

“Any progress so far?”  
  
“The only progress we’ve made is a serum that helps regenerate parts of the body. We used it to graph the skin.”

“Which part of the skin?”

“All of it. By removing the skin embedded with blood blossom fibers, her sensitivity was gone and so was her general pain. There’s also that constant reminder of what happened to her staring back at her in the mirror, that disappeared in the process. So far, that’s the best we have done for her. We are still trying to understand her condition. Both it and her biology are very new to the world. So to answer your previous question, there is a small chance of fully reversing her condition, but it might not be discovered in my lifetime. Or even hers.”

Vlad took a peek over his shoulder to where Jasmine and Danielle sat. Both looked solemn, distraught, as if they were told their condition was terminal. He could only imagine Daniel’s face when he heard this same news.

“What's the name of this condition, Dr. Grahm?”

“The official name is endo-parasitic rosa sanguinemia, but it's most commonly known as the Briar Rose Curse. That was kind of our codename for her in the hospital, Briar Rose, to protect the Fentons’ privacy from the media.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” a look to the defense table, Fleming gave a crisp “You're witness” before returning to her table with a spin on her flat heel.

Once again, Lewis got on his feet and went to the witness stand for cross-examination, taking a couple of files with him. Lomax gave him a stern look that told Lewis to mind himself, they don't want a mistrial. Lewis confirmed with a small nod and an overly confident grin.

“Her condition sounds very horrible, Dr. Grahm, something I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy.”

“Nor would I,” responded Dr. Grahm, “let alone a child.”

“Exactly,” Lewis opened a folder and leafed through the papers inside, “we heard testimony from the Medical Examiner that the late Mr. And Mrs. Fenton were killed by, in layman’s terms, a ghost ray through the heart after a brutal attack with the same spectral energy. Were you able to find similar readings on Ophelia as were found on her grandparents’ bodies?”

“No, we were not. The blood blossoms absorbed most of her spectral energy by the time she arrived at the hospital. It more than likely would have disintegrated any excess energy from her attacker as well.”

Lewis tilted his head to the side slightly, raising an eyebrow curiously.

“So there's no way of telling if her attacker was the same person who killed Mr. and Mrs. Fenton? Or whether her attacker was ghost or human?”

“No, I suppose not.”

Lewis fought back a smile and closed the folder with a small _smack_. Beside the poster board on the easel, he used the corner of the Manila folder to point at the photographs.

“These injuries on her arm and throat: are you absolutely certain that they were caused by someone intentionally harming her.”

“Yes, I am absolutely certain.” Said Dr. Grahm.

“But isn't it possible that these injuries were incidental rather than intentional?”

“I'm not sure what you mean.”

“For example, someone could've tried to pull her out of the thicket of blood blossoms. They may have used too much force to pull her out, and she was already so weak and frail from the blood blossoms, so their attempt may have fractured her arm and left all those marks.”

“You’re suggesting that someone pulled her out by her neck? In a strangle hold?”  
  
“Well, you just said that she was pretty thickly tangled when she arrived in the hospital. It’s reasonable to say that she was in an even worse situation when she was rescued. Whomever pulled her out may not have been able to tell her leg from her neck and grabbed at whatever they could see.” Lewis held his hands up defensively. “Look, I’m not asking if this scenario is smart or even rational, I’m only asking if this could happen and give the same results.”

“It’s highly unlikely that it was what happened but yes, it is possible.”  
  
“Thank you,” said Lewis. He pivoted on his heels towards the defense table, stating a quick “nothing further” on the way.

Dr. Grahm was dismissed from the stand, looking very uncertain of whether or not he had helped the right case. Lomax clapped Lewis’ shoulder when the younger attorney took his seat.   
  
“Well done, Kevin, I’m glad you decided not to bring attention to how the Briar Rose case made Grahm’s career.”

“Yeah, like Natalie or the judge would let me get away with that after Captain Gray.” Lewis grumbled.

“Regardless, the cross was simple and you strewed enough doubt about the injuries to pave the way for the rest of our defense.”

“I still think throwing some shade at the doc would help.”

“You can’t throw everyone into a conspiracy, Kevin, it only makes you look paranoid.”

“Well, with our particular client, it isn’t too far fetched to say that the whole world is out to get him.”

Vlad half-smirked at that. The young attorney does have a point, but of course Lomax’s was better. They already think Vlad is disturbed, no doubt from the boy smearing his reputation further, they would most likely expect him to go for a conspiracy angle.

Well, they would be half right, but that doesn't mean it won't work.

* * *

“Mr. Foley, could you please tell the jury what your connection is to this case?”  
  
Tucker Foley fidgeted with his glasses, clearly nervous. Vlad felt nothing when seeing him. Frankly, he hardly ever noticed Foley even when he was a boy. He was just a friend of Daniel’s, nothing particularly special otherwise. He did admit, it came as a bit of a shock when he heard about his success in his business ventures, becoming potentially wealthier than even him. He was still convinced that the boy becoming mayor so soon after himself was some kind of joke, there was no way that could’ve been legal.   
  
“Um, yes, I am related to this case by a lot.” Said Foley, “You see, as some of you probably know, Danny, Sam and I have been best friends since grade school. I am even the godfather to their daughter and they are the godparents to my kids. I was also the one who discovered that Vlad was back on Earth.”

“How did you know about his return?”

“My company and Fenton Works had a contract with NASA to develop ecto-based programs and equipment for the space station. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton modified the design for the machine I made to save us from the Disasteroid. It would turn the station and shuttles intangible to protect them from orbiting debris and run on an ectoplasmic fuel source that would only need to be changed out every few months. We got the idea after Danny dragged us to see that Sandra Bullock movie-“

Lomax raised a hand, too old to get up from his seat until it was absolutely necessary.

“Your Honor, would you instruct the witness to keep his testimony relevant to the case?”

“I was getting to that.” Foley whined. Vlad rolled his eyes. Perhaps Valarie wasn’t all to blame for their failed marriage.

“While it was being installed, I also had one of my own inventions built into the satellite’s recording system. It read, identified and traced the unique spectral energy signature of a ghost. A couple of weeks before the incident, we got a reading off said satellite. An energy reading coming from deep orbit. There was no doubt in my mind who that could’ve been.”

“Who would that be, Mr. Foley?”

Foley nodded his head over to Vlad.

“The defendant, right there. He _was_ the only known ecto-based lifeform to be exiled in deep space. And it only proved my assumption when we traced that same reading to his estate in Colorado.”

“And what did you do once you were sure the reading you discovered came from the defendant?”

“The moment I spotted the reading, I notified the Bureau of Ghostly Affairs. I wanted to notify Danny as well, but it was only when we traced the reading to the Colorado estate that I was given clearance by the Bureau to notify him…” Foley fidgeted with his glasses again. He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger and let them meet to pinching the bridge of his nose. A not-as-subtle-as-he-might-have-hoped way to wipe away the tears that must have just formed. He hasn't even gotten to the worst part and he's already crying, Vlad noted. How pathetic.

“I came to his house on Christmas Eve. The Bureau wanted his help tracking down Plasmius. He and Sam came with us, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Fenton to look after Ophelia…To this day I wonder if things would've gone differently if we waited until after the holidays to start our search.”

“What happened next, Mr. Foley?”

Foley sucked in a deep breath and recomposed himself, refusing to let a single tear fall and get in the way of his testimony.

“We all went to the Colorado estate to further investigate the house and see if there was any clue to where Plasmius may be or what he was planning. I equipped Danny with a tracer and he inspected the areas of the house that was too far decayed and overrun with vegetation for humans to enter safely. Danny found the ghost portal in Plasmius’s lab was active and we assumed that he must have been hiding out in the Ghost Zone. Because the Truce would make it illegal to enter the Ghost Zone to arrest him, we chose to wait until after the holidays to continue our search for Plasmius…That was when I got the call.”

“What call, Mr. Foley?”

“My then-wife, Detective Gray, she called me on my cell. I guess Danny or Sam’s phone wasn't working, or she just wanted to hear my voice first, most likely the first one. She sounded like she had been crying. She told me that Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were dead and asked me to pass the phone over to Danny. It was horrible, seeing him get the news, it was like someone was stabbing him in the heart. And then he asked about Ophelia…we all felt that pain.”

As Foley spoke, a hand went to his chest. That along with his expression made it seem like even talking about it caused him physical pain. Vlad hoped for his sake that it was only for show.

“We wasted no time getting back to the house,” Foley continued, “Police were already there gathering evidence that would confirm who the killer was and, hopefully, lead us to where Ophelia was.”  
  
“You contributed to the forensic investigation, is that correct?”

Foley nodded.

“I used my tracer to read the most recent signatures left in the house. I found three. One, slightly fainter, I recognized as Danny by a demonstration I performed earlier that night, another being the signatures we had been tracking. Ruling out the third, much smaller signature, as Ophelia’s. With it, we were able to tell what had happened.”

“What had happened, Mr. Foley?”

“Traces showed that the perpetrator went into a fire fight with Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, overpowered them, with Ophelia watching from the stairs. She fired a shot of her own ghost energy at him, freeing her grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton put up a fight to protect their grandchild, but eventually he was once more able to overpower them and take Ophelia…there were traces that showed that Ophelia was in the perp’s arms while they were standing across from Mr. and Mrs. Fenton’s bodies were found, broken and bloody, with a ghost ray shot through their hearts.”

Foley was trembling now. His stare was distant. He must have spent a few nights awake thinking about this, a few bad dreams imagining if this had happened to his son. A couple more of his own daughter going through the same thing once she was born. Perhaps Valerie should have taught him how to mask his emotions before letting him take the stand.

“The last traces showed that the perp brought Ophelia to the basement and they both went through the Fenton Portal II, into the Ghost Zone. Danny didn’t waste any time, not while he knew his daughter was still out there, alive. He took the tracer and went into the Ghost Zone by himself. We heard his Ghostly Wail a few hours later. We came down to find Danny, unconscious, turning back to human form, with something bundled in his coat in his arms. I didn’t see what it was, I only heard Sam screaming when she saw what was inside and her running up the stairs when the house started to collapse from the affects of the Wail. Valerie and I carried Danny out of the house, barely making it out…barely making it out before the house fell. I let paramedics take Danny to the hospital, let the police take my statement, then I went home to my son.”

Fleming placed her hand over Foley’s and gave a reassuring smile.

“Thank you, Mr. Foley,” she said. Foley smiled a thank you to her.

As Fleming returned to her table, Lomax slowly forced his old bones to rise from his seat and walk to the witness stand.

“So you don’t have a doubt in your mind that my client killed Mr. and Mrs. Fenton that night?”

“Yes, and it’s supported by forensic evidence as I had just explained.”

“Yes, yes, I see…the tracer. Tell me, you were able to compare the signature to my client’s or are you purely going by circumstance?”  
  
“We got a sample and compared it to the signature we found the moment he was captured.”

“Which was ten years after the fact, correct?”

“Correct, his signature wasn’t in an official database until recently when he was arrested.”

“Ten years, that is a long time. Things can get lost, misfiled…you only have one reading of the perpetrator’s signature from one device that made one original file. Last time I checked, police procedure is to take three readings of the signatures and generate three original files of each reading.”

“That procedure was set afterwards, when they became standard gear for crime scenes. We were at a press for time since there was a child’s life at stake-“

“So you thought it would be fine to use the bare minimum for forensics? And hand off your only approved model of the device to your friend to go into the Ghost Zone with on his own?”

“It was the only way he could track down culprit and his daughter in time to save her.”

“I’m sure that was what you believed.” Lomax shuffled toward the table, where Lewis handed him a folder. Lomax opened and adjusted his glasses, making sure he was looking at the right document.

“Mr. Foley, records here show that you ordered a nation-wide recall for your ecto-tracers, with a high priority for police stations. What was the purpose for the recall?”

“My inspection team missed a glitch in the programming of that version of the tracers. The moment I spotted it I immediately ordered the recall so it wouldn’t affect any more criminal investigations if it hadn't already. Along with the newer, further inspected version of the tracers came the protocol you explained earlier to prevent any mistakes in forensics.”

“Could you explain the type of mistakes this glitch caused?”

“It would sometimes misfile the data it collected. There were instances where the signatures that were supposed to belong to a suspect were actually duplicated files of the signatures collected at the crime scene.”

There were uncertain looks in the gallery and the jury box. The two ghost jurors were particularly perturbed. It went without saying that a sizeable amount of the ghost population had spent some time in the custody of GZPD in the time Walker was in charge, regardless whether or not they were truly guilty of a crime. You would have to be undeniable pure or incredibly resourceful (as Vlad was) to avoid the black and white stripes. Thusly, it was second nature to a ghost to have even a small distrust towards any law system. You just need to give them a little doubt, a little sway, and they’ll take any side that opposed the police.

Sometimes, Vlad found it almost too easy to manipulate people.

“I see,” said Lomax, “And you are sure that glitch was present only in that version of the tracer. Not even the earlier models?”

“I’m certain of it.”

“So you ran a diagnostic test on the device before and after you used for the crime scene?”  
  
“Well, no, not exactly…”

“Why not? I thought you would’ve wanted to be thorough.”

Foley looked nervous, like a child reluctant to admit he had played ball in the house.

“When Danny came back from the Ghost Zone, he didn’t have the tracer with him. He thought he lost it while trying to get away from Vlad. I was smart enough to upload the readings into the police database before giving the tracer to him, but I could not run a diagnostic after the fact.”

“So to sum it up, Phantom went off into the Ghost Zone, alone, with your device, lost said device while escaping a culprit you yourself did not see and while defending himself from this unseen culprit he destroyed the house in the process, making it impossible to get a second inspection of the crime scene. That seems like a rather unfortunate series of inconveniences.” Lomax held up a hand to cut Foley off before he, or Fleming, could say anything. “I’m not blaming you for any of this, of course, you were only doing the best you could. You can’t control what other people do, or what they keep you from seeing.”

“That sounds a lot like an accusation.” Foley said, seeming to have finally found his backbone. “Danny is my best friend, I have known him since kindergarten. If you think for one second that he would do anything shady-“

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mr. Foley,” Lomax said, hands raised defensively, “I did not say anything about Phantom.”

“You certainly implied it. I have heard enough crud said about my friends to recognize it even in subtext. Phantom did nothing wrong, so don’t you dare accuse him of tampering with evidence.”  
  
“I am not accusing him of anything, Mr. Foley, I am only inquiring whether it is possible given the circumstances of the investigation.”

“Given the circumstances, he wouldn’t even have time to think about anything like that because his daughter’s life was at stake. If there’s one thing to know about Danny Phantom is that when his loved ones are in danger, nothing else matters to him. He would do anything to protect those he cares about and his focus is aimed towards only that goal from start to finish. That’s why you don’t have evidence that meet the gold standards, sir, because he couldn’t think about getting things done by the book. All he knew was that his only child was in the hands of a monster who had just proven himself capable of murder, thus the only thing on his mind was bringing her home and away from _his_ clutches.” Foley pointed to Vlad at the end of his rant, gazed focused with more outrage than Vlad had ever seen the man aim at anyone. However, neither Vlad nor Lomax seemed fazed by Foley’s outburst. Instead, Lomax merely batted his hand saying, “Thank you, Mr. Foley, I believe that I have everything I, and the jury, needed to know.”

The judge dismissed Foley from the stand. As Foley was coming down from the stand, he seemed pretty proud of himself, if not a little confused. He stood up for his friend in front of the court and had it set on record that Danny Phantom was a good man. He had done his part to bring justice to a family he considered himself a part of.

 _If only he knew_ , Vlad thought, suppressing a grin.

* * *

The rest of the week was spent bringing in expert witness after expert witness to argue over the legitimacy of the forensic evidence piled against Vlad. It was no different than the squabbling he had heard during the pre-trial motions: prosecution claimed the evidence placed him at the scene of the crime and the findings were irrefutable; the defense (mainly Lomax) claimed that the findings were shaky and the evidence was easy to tamper with. The only change was that it had been agonizingly dumbed down for the jury. Like a fourth of the jurors and a majority of the gallery, he tuned out by the first hour and plastered on a look of an intent listener.  To keep himself from falling asleep, he would once in a while look over his shoulder to see how his friends in the gallery were doing.   
  
Of course, Jasmine was listening to the whole thing with genuine interest. She even appeared to be taking notes, possibly to mark errors on the experts’ explanations and consult them with Fleming. Danielle appeared to be trying very hard to be interested but to not avail. Jasmine would break from her note-taking to argue against Danielle’s complaints in whispers. Foley accompanied them after his testimony. Like Jasmine, he too was listening to the testimony, if only to grumble about the points made against his own inventions. He and Jasmine would quietly converse and he would point at her notes at certain parts, either to clarify or condemn certain errors.

As for the trio of ghostly women, they were responding somewhat differently to the testimony. The former nanny spent the time keeping both her boyfriend and Ember awake by elbowing their sides, despite clearly being just as bored. The red-haired one, Spectra as he finally remembered, showed some interest. Not surprising, she showed the most interest in the parts where forensics had showed the extent of Jack and Maddie’s suffering and the estimated length Ophelia must have been forced to watch it. As much as Vlad felt that the fat oaf’s end was well deserved, seeing Spectra take pleasure in their demise like it was some sick form of entertainment, particularly Maddie’s, churned his stomach. He was tempted to see if Spectra could be removed from the courtroom, but knowing her any attempt would cause too much grief.

By Friday, the entire courtroom was relieved to hear the last of the expert witnesses dismissed from the stand and the trial was to go into recess until Monday morning. Vlad was particularly happy for this recess. It gave him time to plan the rest of the case with his lawyers.

“Who’s going to be first on the stand?” Asked Vlad.

Lewis checked the list, and immediately grimaced. Curious, Lomax checked the list as well and grumbled, “Oh, _her_ , ” with the similar look of dread. Vlad raised an eyebrow, not all that amused or surprised.

“By the looks on your faces,” he said sardonically, “I'm going to venture a guess and say it's Samantha.”

Both nodded to confirm.

“She's ruthless as a prosecutor,” said Lewis, leaning forward into the table with his fingers threading into his hair, “ but as a witness she's impossible. I'm pretty sure she’s made a few lawyers quit criminal law after cross-examining her.”

Vlad couldn't help but roll his eyes. True, he had heard her reputation as an ADA, and read cases she had testified in which more often than not got convictions, but he didn't think much on them. He couldn't get past that bratty young shrew he first saw when monitoring Daniel so long ago, the girl who angrily protested any slight and would swoon over her the boy the moment his back was turned.

“It is impressive how she has gained such steely nerves since her adolescence,” said Vlad, “But she still has the same temper.” He turned to Lewis, “Which is why I want you to cross-examine her.”

Large eyes looked up from under Lewis’ tussled hair. His permanent smile all but disappeared.

“Are you cr-“ he exclaimed before catching Lomax’s cautionary glare, “I mean, are you sure about that? She’ll bite my head off if I so much as hint at something fishy.”

“Which is why you're perfect to question her. Her anger is her worst attribute. Once she's aggravated enough, she’ll fly into such a rage that the jury will think that her emotions and biases against me are clouding her judgment. They'll take her word with a grain of salt if they take it at all. And who better to get a rise out of her than you? You're practically a pro at aggravating people, especially women.”

Lomax snickered. The insult didn’t get past Lewis, but he knew better and didn’t complain.   
  
“How do you expect me to get her angry? She’s not the teenager you remembered, she’s completely level-headed in the courtroom. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to set her off…Well, nothing that won’t get me held on contempt.”

“She’s level-headed because hardly any of her cases directly involved her. Her family are victims of a horrible crime, here she’ll be emotionally compromised. Push the right buttons and all her credibility on the stand will be gone. Luckily, I made it my job to know all her buttons.”

* * *

“The People call Samantha Manson to the stand.”

When Samantha entered the courtroom Vlad hardly recognized her. For starters, she wasn’t wearing thick layers of eyeliner that could rival Alice Cooper, instead having only a modest coat of mascara and natural toned, pick-tinged eye shadow. Second, the only trace of black in her apparel was the half-inch heels that were a decade out of style and worn maybe once before today.  Her outfit consisted of a white blouse and a flowing knee length skirt and cardigan that matched the color of her eyes. The get up made her look closer to her true age, reminding the crowd that she is in fact a loving mother and a victim worthy of sympathy. Smart, he supposed, it would’ve been hard for the jury to feel compassion for someone who looked like Carmilla’s antagonistic paramour.  

Samantha took her seat at the witness stand without ever looking at Vlad’s side of the courtroom. She must not trust herself to look at him, afraid that she will lose her ever-scalding temper in front of the jury and ruin the case. It wasn’t a completely irrational fear, seeing as she never once encountered Vlad without showing some hostility. It was odd how she had such a seething hatred towards him. It wasn’t like he had ever targeted her personally.  The moment Fleming and Samantha’s eyes met they smiled at each other, a silent reassurance that they can do this.

“State your name and relation to this case for the record.”

“My name is Samantha Manson,” she stated so matter-o-factly, “I am related to the late Jack and Madeline Fenton by my marriage to their son and I am the mother to their granddaughter and fellow victim Ophelia Manson-Fenton.”

“Will you tell us what had happened from the night of December 24thto the morning of December 25th, 2018.”

Samantha gave a nod before starting.

“My husband, my daughter and I went over to Fenton Works to celebrate Christmas with my in-laws. Danny’s sister, Jasmine Fenton was meant to be there as well, but her flight got delayed until the next morning so it was just us. At around 9pm, I put Ophelia to bed in Danny’s old bedroom. I had just gotten her to sleep reading her ‘the Spider and the Fly’ when Danny started calling me from downstairs. I came down as fast as I could without disturbing Ophelia. Tucker was at the door with this government agent. Danny was frantic, putting on his coat and throwing mine at me the minute he saw me. I stopped him, told him to calm down and tell me what was wrong. He told me that Vlad Plasmius was back.”

“How did he know that Plasmius had returned?”

 “Tucker told him. He explained to us that the program he Danny had install into a satellite picked up a reading with both spectral energy and a human heat signature. That was enough for me, and we left the house immediately, leaving Ophelia with Jack and Maddie…”

Samantha closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  
  
“To this day, I wondered what would have happened if I stayed with them. I wish that I had stayed with them and maybe…maybe it wouldn’t have happened.”

Fleming rested her hand on the edge of the witness stand, a small gesture of comfort.

“What happened next?” asked Fleming.

“We flew over to Vlad’s estate in Colorado. According to Tucker and his tracer, readings indicated that Vlad had been there recently. Danny was sent down to investigate the underground lab, there was too much vegetation for anyone else to get down there in a timely manner and they were worried about radiation from the machines since they hadn’t been used or maintained in fourteen years. Danny not only found traces of Plasmius’ ecto-signature, but discovered that some of the equipment was missing and there was an active ghost portal. All indicating that he was somewhere in the Ghost Zone and he was planning something. Because of the Truce we couldn’t pursue him further until after the holidays. Then Tucker got the call…”

Once again, Samantha took deep breaths, restraining tears. She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket in case the tears finally fell, and twisted in in her hands.

“It’s hard to tell in hindsight, but I think I felt that something bad was going to happen the moment we left Fenton Works. Anything involving Vlad ends up bad for us, for Danny, but this time…this time it felt different. It felt worse.

“As soon as Tucker received the call and passed the phone over to Danny, I knew my fears were right. When he mentioned Ophelia, my heart sank. It was like my whole world was coming down around me.”

“What was that phone call about?”

“It was Valerie- I mean then Detective Gray. She was telling Danny that his parents were dead. Brutally murdered in their own home. And that our daughter was missing, though we already knew what happened.”

“What was that, Ms. Manson?”

Finally, Samantha turned to look at Vlad. Her eyes pieced into him with lilac fire as she pointed to him.

“That the defendant, Vlad ‘Plasmius’ Masters, murdered Jack and Maddie and kidnapped Ophelia.”

The Gallery went into a frenzy of murmurs. Judge Laurel had to restore the silence with a few harsh bangs of her gavel.

“Order, Order.” Cried Judge Laurel.

Lewis sprang to his feet.

“Objection!” Cried Lewis, “Her statement has no ground and highly prejudicial.”  
  
Samantha tossed a look of annoyance at Lewis’ direction.   
  
“I swore to tell the whole truth while I’m on the stand, and the whole truth was that we were all certain that Vlad was the killer the moment we heard that Jack and Maddie were dead.”  
  
“I’ll allow it,” Said Judge Laurel, “you may continue with your questioning, Counselor Fleming.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Fleming turned back to Samantha. “So what happened next?”  
  
“We went back to Fenton Works, now a crime scene. The living room was a wreck, like there was a fight there. Their bodies were covered, but you could still see their blood soak through…” Samantha wrapped her arms around herself, as if she felt a chill. Her eyes went to the floor as she said, “I’m sorry, even now the memory of the crime scene is unsettling. I had been fascinated with all things dark and disturbed since I was a little girl, but _that…._ that struck a chord for me. What happened later was unbearable.”  
  
“What was unbearable?”

Samantha unclenched her hand from her arm. Absentmindedly, she rubbed her thumb over the smooth, Caucasian pink polish over her freshly manicured nails. Her handkerchief balled up in the cup of her palm as she repeated the process over and over.

“We used Tucker’s tracer to check the house. It looked like Vlad had taken Ophelia to the Ghost Zone, and she was still alive when he did so. There was a chance that he was keeping her alive, whether to bait Danny or use her for god knows what, I don’t know.

“Danny saw a chance to find her using the tracer, and he didn’t want to wait to get reinforcements. The Truce would have made it impossible to get any help from any law enforcement until next day, when the trace of her signature would be gone and we’d lose her forever. He didn’t want to risk that so he chose to go into the Ghost Zone alone and rescue her.” She pressed her nails deep into the heel of her palm.

“I should have gone with him, I don’t know why I let him go alone. But instead I stayed with Tucker and Valerie, hoping that my family will come back alive. I waited for hours, watching the police gather all the evidence, watching the medical examiner look over the bodies. When they were taking away Jack and Maddie’s bodies, it was dawn on Christmas day. That’s when I heard Danny’s Ghostly Wail. I was the first to go down there. Danny had turned back into his human form and collapsed on the floor. The Fenton Ghost Portal II was broken down, destroyed. He was beaten up and bleeding. He had something in his arms, wrapped up in his winter coat. I ran to him while Tucker and Valerie made it down. I looked into the coat …” Samantha sniffled, which turned into a whimper.

“…Then I saw her.”  
  
“Who did you see?”

Samantha unfurled the handkerchief and wiped under her eye before a tear could fall. Vlad caught the initials stitched into the corner of the fabric, _I.M._ Most likely an old accessory of a long-dead relative, he assumed.

“I saw my daughter.” She choked out, “Wrapped inside the coat.”

Fleming put a hand over the one Samantha wasn’t using to dry her eyes and smear her mascara.

“I’m very sorry to ask this, but you need to describe how she looked when you saw her.”

Samantha pursed her lips, and then gave a hesitant nod. 

 “Her…her entire body was burned with these rose-shaped scars. There were tiny cuts and tears in her skin. She was bleeding red over dried green. Her clothes were torn up and her hair was cut, with black leaves and red petals stuck to her. And she had these bruises on her, hard to tell under the burns but they were still there. There was one on her wrist, where is was bent like it was broken…and another one over her throat like…like…” A small sob escaped her. She cried out, “He choked her!” before breaking into tears.

The gallery was clearly affected by the display, more so the jury. Jasmine glued her eyes to her hands folded on her lap, letting the tears drip down her face. Danielle tried to choke it back, mask it with anger, but nothing could hide her eyes misting. Foley was equally saddened and also shaken up. He must not have seen Samantha cry often. There was also a sense of protective determination, as an older brother would have avenging his little sister from her bullies. Even the ghost nanny was affected, seeking comfort in the arms of her boyfriend. They were only two ghosts of their little group that seemed to feel any sympathy towards this act of the grief-stricken mother.

Samantha let herself cry for another minute before recomposing herself.

“Not to soon after I found her, the house started to shake. It was an old house. It took a lot of punishment in its day. I guess the Ghostly Wail was the final blow that brought it down. I didn’t even stop to think about it, I just grabbed Ophelia and ran out of there, leaving Tucker and Valerie to carry Danny out. I brought her to the first ambulance truck I saw. I stood there watching the house crumble, hoping that they get out of there before it finally collapsed. Luckily, they made it out right before the first floor fell through. As soon as I saw that Danny was being loaded onto the second ambulance truck, I got in and rode with Ophelia to the hospital. She was there for four months in a coma. When she eventually woke up, she screamed when she saw her reflection…She was a beautiful little girl, and so brave and kind. But she couldn’t even look at her own reflection without it reminding her of what that monster did to her. That night took so much from us, but the worst was what was taken from Ophelia. It was like a part of her died in the blood blossoms. She lost her sense of safety, her self image….Danny and me, we were the only ones who saw the brave, beautiful girl under the scars. It killed me to see her so scared of the night, of strange sounds in the distance, unable to see herself for who she truly is…or used to be…Even with the scars gone, she still can’t see herself. She’s still afraid.”

“Thank you Ms. Manson, I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Fleming gave her a reassuring smile, which Samantha returned. Hesitantly, Fleming returned to her table, eyeing the defense warily. Before any of the defense could rise from their seats, Judge Laurel held up a hand.

“Just a second, Counselor,” said the judge. To Samantha, she asked,“Ms. Manson, you need a minute before cross-examination?”

“No,” Samantha sniffled, “I think I’ll be fine, thank you.”

She wiped the last of her tears. Her mascara was so smudged that she looked more like her usual gothic style. With a fortune as vast as the Manson family’s inheritance, Vlad would’ve thought she would spend at least a small part of it on waterproof makeup.

“Very well,” said the judge, “The defense may proceed with their cross-examination.”

 Lewis looked over to Vlad. _Are you sure you want me to do this?_ He seemed to ask, nervously. Vlad returned the look with a stern nod. Lewis shrugged, broadened his smile and rose from his seat.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs. Fenton-“

“Ms. Manson,” Samantha was quick to correct, “I kept my last name when I married so legally, it’s Ms. Manson.”

Lewis raised an eyebrow. If he was nervous, he hid it well behind a haggard expression.

“Right, okay, _Ms. Manson_ , I’m sorry for that too. So, Ms. Manson, you believe that my client killed your in-laws and attacked your daughter the _exact_ same night you and your husband were looking for him? Don’t you think that’s too much of a coincidence?”

“Yes, it is an odd coincidence, but that in no way means that he didn’t do it.”

“So what, did he plan to go to Fenton Works and kill Jack and Maddie the same night you and your husband went out? Did he wait for you to leave the house?”  
  
“I make no assumptions to know what Masters plans or how he thinks. I doubt there is anyone qualified to understand his mind.”

“Ms. Manson, did you see my client at all during the night in question?”

“No, I did not.”

“Then how are you sure that it was him who committed these crimes and not one of the many enemies that your family have made over the years?”

“You mean aside for the evidence placing him in the house? Or his history of attempts on the lives of Jack Fenton, Jazz Fenton, my husband and even myself-“

“Hold on, when did he ever make an attempt on your life?”

Samantha pursed her lips. She must know where this will lead.

“Twice, when I was fourteen, if you don’t account the Disasteroid incident. Both times were to get to Danny.”

“So would you say that you have a bias against my client?”

“Counselor, I believe the entire world has a bias against your client.”

“So then would it be fair to say that you are basing your assumptions that my client was behind these murders on your history with him?”

“We don’t have a history, so no. I am basing my conclusion on his history with the Fenton family. That and the fact that my husband found our daughter in Plasmius’ home in the Ghost Zone, and Plasmius attempting to kill them both when Danny rescued Ophelia.”

“And you were there to see it?”

“No, I wasn’t. Like I said, I _should_ have gone with him, but-“

“So you are persecuting my client based on some bad memories and your husband’s word? Did you even consider it was someone else?”

“Most of our enemies are ghosts who, unlike Vlad, observe the Truce and take it seriously. And no human would go into the Ghost Zone in fear of violating the Truce, nor would they even have the means to create a weapon that perfectly match a ghost’s unique spectral energy signature. All the evidence points to Plasmius.”

“I see…” Lewis walked towards the witness stand. He looked like he was going to place a reassuring hand on the edge like Fleming had done, but instead he leaned against it. Samantha couldn’t help but look at him with disgust.

“Ms. Manson, I can see that you love your family very much.”

“Yes, I do.”

“And you would do anything to protect them, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course.  A mother would do anything to protect her child.”

“How true,” He leaned a little closer, making Samantha lean away, “Tell me, how do you know Helen Yume?”

Samantha’s eyes went wide, which seemed to pop out more with the smudged mascara. Vlad smiled. _Oh, like I wouldn’t know about that._

“I don’t see what that has to do with this case.”

“Neither do I,” said Judge Laurel.

Lewis held up a hand defensively.   
  
“If Your Honor will permit me a little leeway, it will make itself very clear.”

Judge Laurel glared at him suspiciously.

“I’ll allow it. Tread carefully, Counselor Lewis.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Lewis turned back to Samantha, “Now, how do you know Helen Yume?”

She went back to running her thumb over her fingernails, this time faster and with the edge of the nails applying more pressure to the thumb.

“She’s our neighbor, the Yumes’ house is right across the street from ours. Our daughters go to school together, in fact they’re friends.”

“Is it true that two months ago, her husband, Officer Arthur Yume, arrested your daughter for destruction of public property. The next day, Officer Yume drops the charges after getting a phone call from his wife Helen. Do you know why he would do that?”

“For one, it may be because it is stated in the Bystander Contract that Ophelia cannot be held accountable for damage caused while apprehending a suspect.”

“Or maybe you had a talk with Mrs. Yume and she got her husband to drop the charges. If I were to call Mrs. Yume to the stand right now and ask about this incident, what do you think she would say?”

Samantha’s hands curled tighter, pressing against her thumbs so tight that it looked like she might draw blood.  She would not answer.

Lewis went back to the table and picked up a file.

“In fact, our private investigator talked to Mrs. Yume prior to this trial and she made a statement about this incident. Would you like to guess what she might say or should I read her statement to the jury-“

Samantha held out her hand, showing the curved indents her fingernails left on the palm.

“Wait, okay, I’ll tell you.”

Lewis smirked and closed the file. Samantha cast her eyes to the floor.

“Mrs. Yume wasn’t exactly keen on ghosts. She even forbade her daughter from hanging around mine. My husband tried to reason with her and, well, he ended up making it worse. She had her husband arrest Ophelia. It didn’t really matter if she was responsible or not, he was going to fling her behind bars with any excuse. Danny told me the whole thing after he bailed Ophelia out and I decided to end it. I talked to her and I don’t know what kind of experience she had with ghosts but it left a horrible impression on her. She told me outright that she had her husband arrest her because she was a ‘horrible ghost brat’. I was wearing Fenton Phones while she was talking and I showed it to her. I told her that if she didn’t have her husband drop the charges and let our daughters hang out with each other I would hand this to Internal Affairs and charge them with a hate crime. Lo and behold, the charges were dropped and our daughters got to be friends again.”

“So you blackmailed your neighbor and an officer of the law?”

“Yes, I’m not proud to say it but yes. Only so Ophelia wouldn’t have to worry about that kind of prejudice so close to home and so she could have her friend back.”

“So you blackmailed your neighbors to protect your daughter. Makes one wonder what else you would do for your family. Maybe even perjure yourself to cover up their crimes?”

“Objection!” cried Fleming.

“Why would I lie about this?” asked Samantha. Already, Vlad could see her temper starting to boil. “What is there even to lie about? Two people are dead and my daughter is both emotionally and physically traumatized.”

“Perhaps how those two people wound up dead-“

“Objection!”

“Maybe it didn’t go exactly as you told it-“

“Objection!”

“Or maybe it wasn’t exactly how your husband told you it happened-“

“Your Honor!”

“That is enough, Counselor Lewis,” said Judge Laurel, slamming her gavel, “Jury is to disregard the Defense’s statement. Lewis, if you pull anything like that again, I will hold you in contempt of court.”

“I understand, Your Honor.” Lewis shot a look over to Vlad before returning to Samantha.

“Ms. Manson, how well do you know your husband?”

Samantha eyed him suspiciously.

“Better than anyone, I’d say, not that anyone ever bothers to know him as a person.”

 “Is he a good husband?”

“Yes”

“Is he a good father to your child?”

“I don’t think anyone has ever tried harder to do right by their child than Danny has. He doesn’t even need to, but he feels like nothing he does is enough.”

“So he’d do anything for his family?”

“Of course.”

“Even kill for them?”

Samantha was taken aback.

“I…I don’t quite understand your question.”

“My question is: Could your husband take the life of another sentient being in order to protect his family?”  
  
Samantha drew her focus to her hands.   
  
“Anyone could take a life, we humans are such fragile creatures that anything can kill us. It’s whether or not someone _would_ kill another living being that defines a person.”

“You’re dodging the question, Ms. Manson, you know exactly what I’m asking. If you or your daughter were in danger, could he, _would_ he, kill someone in order to protect either of you?”

Samantha shot him a dark glare, with the intensity of hellfire. She was doing surprisingly well to keep her temper, in her youth she would’ve already have lashed at Lewis.

“My Danny would never kill another living being! Only if he was out of options would he _consider_ it, only if it were life or death-“

“Life or death, would he do it?”

Was she actually shaking with rage? Her pale pink face inched bit by bit into a furious red.

“Yes, but-“

“Thank you, Ms. Manson,” Lewis smile turned into one of an exhausted teacher who was seeing results from their most troublesome student. “Let the record show that Samantha Manson states that her husband, our so-called hero Danny Phantom, is capable of murder. Now, was that so hard, sweetheart?”

“I did not say he was capable of murder!”

“You said he would kill another living being in order to protect his family, just now you said it. Has all that time around ectoplasm affected your short-term memory? We are such fragile creatures, after all.”

“I know exactly what I said, Mr. Lewis, but what I said is not the same as murder. Danny would never dream of taking the life of another person, but there are moments where there are no options. There are moments where you make one mistake and it winds up with people dead. Danny works so hard to protect us all, and by that I mean humans and ghosts alike. He puts himself under so much pressure that sometimes I fear that it might kill him or worse. Yet you all take that for granted. You praise him and treat him like this invincible super-being, but as soon as he makes a mistake, as soon as he does something or appears to do something remotely bad, you condemn him and call him a monster.  He deserves to be seen as a person and accepted for his flaws.”

“Don’t you think Masters should have the same treatment?”

Samantha’s eyes went wide. She looked as if the very concept deeply disturbed her.   
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Well, my client is just as human as your husband. They both have criminal records, granted that my client’s is vast and much more founded. You could even say, from a legal standpoint, that your husband and my client are the same person-“  
  
“They are _not_ the same person!” Samantha snapped quickly.

“But in the eyes of the law, they are. Look, we’re both lawyers, we both know the fundamentals of the American judicial system. Our trials are founded on the basic concept of innocence until proven guilty. No matter who you are or what you’ve done in the past you will be tried fairly by your peers and solely by the indisputable facts. Don’t you believe that my client is entitled to the unalienable rights as an American citizen?”  
  
“He as a citizen has a right to a trial, which he has right here. He has a right to plea his case to a jury of his peers, which is what he is doing right now with you as his representative. However, he does not have the privilege to make his crimes go away and walk out of here with an acquittal just because he can afford the right attorneys. I am here to tell the facts of this case as best as I know them and share my opinion on the matter, and in my opinion,” She turned to Vlad, staring white-hot daggers into him. “Your client is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“Yes, well, unless you can put him at the scene of the crime, your opinion doesn’t matter.”

To even Vlad’s surprise, Samantha bared her teeth.

“Who are you to judge what matters? Have you ever lost someone close to you in a grisly murder? Have you ever had to ride with your child in the ambulance, praying to a god you never truly believed in that she won't die before you get to the hospital? Have you had to stare down the man that has endangered the lives of yourself and everyone you've loved and use every once of will power not to bash his face in? I may not be able to place him at that house, but I _know_ it was Vlad! There's nothing you could possibly have that could disprove it.”

“So in other words, you refuse to believe that anyone other than my client could be responsible for this crime, nor accept any evidence proving such.”

“I cannot accept evidence that does not exist.”

“And you’re more than willing to accept shaky evidence with holes you can drive a cargo ship through as long at it points fingers at my client. Or is it any evidence that you husband tells you to accept?”

“Objection!” Fleming called out. But it was already too late. Samantha, losing the last of her reserve, shot up from her seat and leaned over the stand.

“How dare you, how _dare_ you! My husband has done nothing wrong, it was him! My baby almost died because of _him!_ He’s a monster, he deserves to be put away!”

Judge Laurel banged her gavel, demanding “Order! Order!” in her courtroom. The bailiff rushed to the stand in case he needed to restrain Samantha. It took a few more bangs of the gavel until the cacophony of the gallery began to die down. No one noticed Vlad in all the chaos. No one was even looking in his direction. Regardless, he leaned his mouth behind his folded hands to hide his wide, victorious grin.

 


	27. People v. Plasmius, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vlad is put to trial for the events described in December 25th

 

After the uproar caused by Samantha, the judge called for an early recess so both sides could clear their heads. Another possible reason, Vlad thought as he saw more officers running about the courthouse, was that they were preparing for the People’s last and star witness: Danny Phantom himself.

“You take this one, sir,” Lewis said to Lomax, “Crossing Manson is one thing but Phantom!? I’m still young in my career here, I don’t think my reputation will ever recover if I challenged Danny Phantom’s credibility in a trial about his parents’ death.”  
  
“Relax, Kevin, nobody’s asking you to-“Lomax began to explain.  
  
“I can’t even say that I’m unbiased either. He saved my life once! I still have the picture I took of him lifting my school bus off the cliff side like it was made of Styrofoam!“  
  
“Kevin, calm down-“

“My little sister goes to school with his kid for Pete sake! She might even be in the same class-“

“Kevin!” Lomax snapped. When Lewis finally calmed down and stayed quiet, Lomax continued, “We have discussed this already, I am cross examining Mr. Fenton. I have much more experience handling high-profile cases like these and wining. For the record, our case revolves around unfair biases so a story about how he saved you as a grade-schooler is not a free pass.”  
  
“To add to the proverbial record,” Vlad interjected, “You would be my absolute _last_ choice to cross-examine Daniel.”

It was clear that Lewis was offended, but as he was getting what he wanted he chose not to protest. Vlad let them review their plans for the star witness and most difficult part of the whole trial, taking the time to enjoy the lunch they had delivered from one of the few restaurants still left in this sorry little town that came close to meeting his high standards of cuisine. There were so many things about maximum-security prison that were intolerable to men with such fine, luxurious tastes as him, particularly the food. Of course, he knew from experience that it was far better than starving for fourteen years, that knowledge did not make him forget the savory meats and fine wines that he had indulged in for twenty years. That he had continued to indulge in since his return ten years ago.

Perhaps the one bright side to his incarceration was that he was given a private cell, with his own television so he could watch his Packers play. A bright side he got to keep as long as he kept up his good behavior and as long as the unexplained spike in infirmary visits by other convicts did not return.

“We shouldn’t be too aggressive from the start.” Lewis said, “We should make him feel comfortable before we bring up Roat. Luckily, that’s what you’re best at, sir, you’re very good at lowering their guards so they have no defense when you hit them hard.”

“Thank you, Kevin, very observant of you.”   
  
“The approach will work for the jury,” Vlad said, “But it won’t work on Daniel.”

 He finished the last bite of his steak salad and wiped his face and hands of any juices. He slid the empty container aside and gave his attorneys his full attention.  

“He doesn’t trust me, and it extends to anyone under my employment. Along with that, he’s developed an innate instinct over the years of fighting ghosts. He’ll recognize a threat in any form and nothing will dissuade it. Your best strategy is to use that against him. He is going to expect the worst so let him think that the worst is about to happen. Stay warm and pleasant for the jury but lead him with your questions until anything that throws doubt on his heroism makes him hostile. That’s when you should bring up Roat.”

Lewis, being not as familiar with Vlad’s cold, calculative nature as Lomax was, could not hide his expression of shock and disgust. Vlad returned his expression with a shrug and a quizzical look.   
  
“Are you truly so surprised that I know so much about the boy after following his family for over forty years?”

Lewis shook his head, expression unchanged. Vlad chose to ignore Lewis and direct all of his attention to Lomax.

“I suggest you play on his paternal side. He is quite protective of his child, arguably more so than Samantha. Justified, what with his line of work, but it is no less a weakness for him. Just stick to the plans I wrote up for you and everything should go accordingly.”

“As always, Mr. Masters.”

* * *

They were sitting in the largest courtroom in the building, or even the entire city of Amity Park. Despite that, it was only meant to contain 300 people and one or two cameras, nowhere near the number of people that tried to pack themselves into the gallery. There were perhaps twice the number of people trying to get than there were on the first day of the trial, and nearly three times the number of cameras lining the walls. Everyone wanted to see Danny Phantom, the Savior of Two Worlds, stand up to Vlad Plasmius, the most hated man of two worlds, in order to get justice for his parents and his only child. It would be the first time the public will see the two interact in 24 years and the closest they’ll ever get to a genuine showdown between the two of them. The whole world was watching, and Vlad could not be anymore calm.

Judge Laurel returned to her seat at the bench and banged her gavel, silencing the murmurs of the crowd.

“Recess has concluded and court is now in sessions. The Prosecution has a witness?”  
  
Fleming rose to her feet, seeming a bit unnerved form so many eyes and lenses directed at her. It’s never a good sign when prosecutors sweat under so much attention.

“The Prosecution calls Daniel Fenton to the stand.”

As soon as the doors opened, the room was filled with bright flashes. Vlad couldn’t see the boy until he passed by his table on the way to the stand. It was clear since Vlad first met him that Daniel was, nor would ever be, someone who felt natural in a suit. However, the one he was wearing now fitted him well and gave him some air of competence. No doubt Samantha helped him pick that suit. There was an attempt to comb back his hair and hold it back with a strong mousse, but already there were locks poking out into unruly shapes. Vlad would occasionally note to himself that he found it impossible to see Daniel as the adult he was. True, the years of wisdom was clear in his eyes, and he held himself with the confidence a grown man would, but he couldn’t help himself from seeing the boy he had met long ago. He still saw that poor young soul who fell victim to his own father’s carelessness, the one who was alienated from his own species and left to handle to burden of such great power alone. He saw the soul whom he could’ve saved and who could’ve saved him from the loneliness that came with being such a rare and superior creature.               

Fleming waited patiently for Daniel to be swore in and for the gallery to quiet themselves from their initial excitement.

“State your name for the court and your relation to this case.” She said as professionally and unattached as she could.

“My name is Danny Fenton,” Daniel said, with the professionalism and ease of someone who has been on the stand many times before. “I am the son of the deceased and the father to the survivor.”

Trying not to seem too attached? Samantha must have prepped him after her own disastrous testimony. Or does he not trust himself to be too emotional?  
  
“Can you tell us in your own words what happened from the night of December 24th to dawn of December 25th, 2018?”  
  
Daniel nodded then took a deep breath, taking one last moment to mentally prepare himself and keep composure.

“On the 24th, my wife and I took our daughter over to my parents’ house for an early Christmas celebration. My sister’s flight had been delayed until the following day and Danielle, my….cousin….wasn’t coming until New Years so it was just the five of us that night. My wife was just putting our daughter to bed in my old room when our friend Tucker showed up at our doorstep. He said that satellites picked up both a heat signature and an ectoplasmic signature, something that you'd only get from half ghosts. I knew instantly what that meant-“

“And what was that?” asked Fleming.   
  
Daniel cast his eyes upon Vlad, reminding the old man of the numerous times the boy had glared at him with his ghostly green eyes. He looked just as childish now as he did twenty-four years ago.

“It meant that Vlad Plasmius had returned to Earth.” He looked back to Fleming to continue his story. “I wasted no time, I started putting on my coat. I called for Sam, my wife, and had her put on her coat as soon as she came down the stairs. I filled her in as we were leaving the house, and we left my parents to take care of Ophelia…” Daniel put a half-curled fist to his mouth, eyes cast down. “I didn’t even really say goodbye to them. ‘Watch over Ophelia, we’ll be right back.’ That’s what I said. I didn’t even stay to hear their response. They could have told me they loved me for the last time, and I didn’t even get to hear it.” He dragged his hands over his face and took another deep breath. It seems he was determined to keep it together for as long as he possibly could.

“We followed Tucker to Colorado, to Vlad’s estate in the Rockies. In only fourteen years, the house was infested with vegetation. Along with that and the possibility of radiation poisoning from derelict equipment, and being one of the only few people to have ever been inside, they thought I was the only one suitable to explore the house for any signs of him.”

“Can you specify who ‘they’ are? For the jury?”

Daniel nodded.

“The Federal Bureau of Ghostly Affairs, the government organization that deals with human/ghost relations, both criminal and diplomatic. They’re kind of like the Guys in White before them except, you know, without the inhumane experimentation, unlawful detention, and plots of ecto-genocide.”

“Did you find anything in the house?”

“At first, no, not until I got to the lab in the basement floor of the house. There were signs of disturbance, missing equipment, and of course a still-active ghost portal. A Fenton Portal automatically shuts itself off after it goes 24 hours unused, as a safety and energy preservation measure. And I doubt it would have stayed on for ten years ever without the mechanism. Based on that, we believed that the portal had been used recently in order to transport the missing lab equipment into the Ghost Zone.”

“What did you do then?”

“What could we do then? It was the Truce, no one could go into the Ghost Zone unless it is to celebrate the holidays peacefully. We had to hold off on the search until after Christmas, when the Truce would be legally recognized as over…but then Tucker got the call.”

“Who was calling him?”

“Valerie, his wife at the time. He was the most committed to their marriage, like a lovesick puppy, so any time she called him he was smiling. That just made it all the more shocking when his smile immediately vanished and he had this horrified look, like someone walked over his grave. Then he passed the phone for me, and it was like someone was walking over _my_ grave-“ He stopped and looked over to the jury, “I don’t have a grave, by the way. I know there are some rumors about me having one or that I’m some kind of zombie, but none of that is true. I’m just a guy with ectoplasm stitched into his molecular structure-“

“Mr. Fenton,” Judge Laurel interrupted, “You are only requested to answer question asked of you by the counselors. You can dispute the fan theories later.”

Daniel hunched over, an old indicator of embarrassment he never grew out of.

“Right, sorry Your Honor.”

The small wave of awkward laughter settled, and Fleming returned to her questions.

“Alright, so what did Valerie say when you were on the phone with her?”

Daniel turned from embarrassed to solemn. There was something else to his expression, too. Anger, perhaps? Guilt for not preventing this from coming to pass?

“She told me that she found my parents dead in their own home, my old home. I was stunned for a moment, only a moment. I asked her what happened to Ophelia and she said that she was gone. I don’t think I had ever felt more terrified, thinking of what she must have seen, thinking of what he’d do to her.”

“Who would do what to her?” Fleming asked.

“Vlad Plasmius,” Daniel held up a hand just as he saw Lewis about to spring up from his seat, “No, I didn’t hear any proof that it was him at that moment, but I just knew it was him. He was the only one who could take down both my parents and openly defy the Truce.”

“What did you think he was going to do to your daughter?” Fleming asked.

Daniel looked away, threading his fingers through his hair.

“That’s the thing, I didn’t even know. I had hoped that he wouldn’t have done anything brutal, that he would register that she was only four years old and utterly helpless to defend herself against him. But if he was able to brutal torture and kill my mother, someone he claimed to have loved and would have never thought to hurt in the past… I-I don’t even want to think about it. “

“What did you do next?”

“We went back to the house and used Tucker’s tracer to scan the crime scene. We found that he had taken my daughter into the Ghost Zone, and she was alive when she was taken. That was some relief, knowing that he hadn’t killed her on the spot, but not enough. I couldn’t wait until after the Truce to go find her, I don’t think he’d even keep her alive until then, and even if he did I’d probably never see her again if I gave him a head start. So I took Tucker’s tracer and went alone into the Ghost Zone to track them.”

“We're you able to find them?” Asked Fleming.

Daniel nodded.

“I tracked their signatures to this demented floating castle. If you know what the Dairy Castle in Wisconsin used to look like, just imagine that but ten times creepier and warped almost past recognition.” Daniel shuddered at the memory of the place. Vlad felt a sneer curling at the corner of his mouth. Of course Daniel wouldn’t be intelligent enough to appreciate the avant-garde of a gothic-expressionist blend.  

“I phased through the front door and found a dark hallway. There were torches lining the walls, but my own glow was more illuminating than them. There was a light at the end of the hall, through a crack under a door. I went into the room and found this blank white room. No pictures, no furniture, nothing. I didn’t notice the hole in the middle of the room until I nearly fell in. I was lucky to catch myself, what was at the bottom of the pit…”

Daniel’s eyes gazed out across the room, beyond the room, to an infinite expanse that could only be seen by him. The color was ebbing from his skin, his breath becoming shallow. The moment he had mentally avoided, the one he had tried to forget up until now, was coming into unbearable focus. It was quite rare to see Daniel so scared, unable to mask it with wry humor and feeble wit. It was fascinating, enough to tune out the faint echo of dread from being the cause of such fear.

“I felt the sting of blood blossoms once before that night, which also happened to involve Plasmius. It’s hard to describe that kind of pain, I don’t think it’s something a human body could feel. Just seeing them down there in the pit was like being shocked. Then Vlad appeared on the other side of the pit. He had that stupid smug grin of his but there was something wrong about it. I could see that he had become completely unhinged.  I demanded to know where my daughter was, and he pretended to have never heard of her. I-I was so angry I even threatened to kill him if he didn’t tell me where she was. Then he said that he had seen a little girl around. ‘She was being a naughty little girl,’ he said, ‘she needed to be…to be…” Daniel sucked in the air like he was about to dive into deep waters. His fingers turned white as he curled them tightly around the edge of the witness stand. “’She needed to be corrected.’ He looked down the pit, and I looked down too. Then I saw her, tangled in those thorns, cut and scratched and burned. Ophelia, my baby girl, was buried in the blood blossoms.”

An echo of gasps rang across the room, from the clusters of ghosts that managed to stay in the gallery. The female ghost in the jury box was shaking, forcing back tears. Perhaps she had first hand knowledge of what the blood blossoms felt like. The other female juror, the one he suspected of being a mother, was just as visibly disturbed.  
Then there was Daniel, replaying the horrific memories in his mind, trying to keep himself from trembling but could not. How many times has he told this story, Vlad thought, how many times has his friends told their story in the past ten years? How have they not learned to control themselves in all this time and not have such histrionic displays on the stand? Astonishing how Vlad managed to be defeated by someone so pathetic.

“I thought she was dead.” Daniel said, “I couldn’t see her breathing from where I was and, I don’t know, maybe I just didn’t want to think of her still being in pain, so I thought she was dead. I was so angry, he killed her without even knowing her _name_ , I was sure I was going to kill him then and there.”

“Clearly, you didn’t, so what stopped you?”

“Ophelia did. After hours of intense agony, not only was she still alive but she still had the strength to cry out for me. Hearing her voice sent a wave of relief over me that I forgot about seeking vengeance on Vlad and focused straight on getting her out of there. It wasn’t easy, since ghosts can’t even go near it. It’s like an invisible electric fence. A wall of fire. I was so scared for her I didn’t even think of my own pain, I just kept trying to force myself through.”

“And where was Vlad while this was happening?”

“At the edge of the pit, watching Ophelia dying, watching me struggling to get through. He was laughing the whole time. He said it was the best entertainment he had in twenty years. I ignored him and kept trying to get through. Then I remembered, the first time I encountered blood blossoms, when I was a kid. I was trapped in a circle of them and I was writhing in agony, even when I got pulled out. But Vlad felt nothing, even when he got close enough to step on them to throw me into the circle. I remembered, blood blossoms are lethal when a halfa is in their ghost form, but they are totally harmless in their human form. So I turned back to Fenton and landed right in the thick of it without a problem. 

“When I found her again from under the vines, she was barely breathing. She was cut and bleeding from the thorns and her clothes were torn up. Her hair was caught and pulled every which way. Just about every inch of her skin was marked from direct contact with the blood blossoms. It looked someone put a hot iron to her body. Worst of all, the part that has been haunting me to this day, the vines were burrowed into her. I could see where they branched under her skin, where they connected to her veins. I don't think I could comprehend the kind of pain she went through, or how she was able to survive it. I doubt even the King of All Ghosts could go that long down in that pit without his form breaking down into dust.”

“How did you and your daughter escape?”

“I cut her out with a pen knife and then I phased through the walls of the pit. One of the best things about the Ghost Zone is that humans can phase through objects the same way ghosts do on the Human Plane. I wrapped her in my coat before I switched back to my ghost half, but I could still feel the blood blossoms through the fabric. It was draining me every second I was close to it. But I couldn’t think of that, especially when Vlad started chasing after us. I flew back to Fenton Works as fast as I could go, all while trying to shake Vlad off my tail. When I got close to the Fenton Portal II, I pushed a floating rock at him that he couldn’t dodge. It gave me enough time to get through the portal and lock it behind us. When I thought we were safe, I checked on Ophelia. Her hair was still white, which usually changes to black when she crosses over to the Human Plane. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing, and when I tried to check her pulse the blood on her neck stung me. I couldn’t understand what was happening to her, and I didn’t a chance to before Vlad busted through the portal doors.”

“Did you try to fight him?”

“I couldn’t even get on my feet, the blood blossoms drained too much of my ghost energy. Vlad mocked me, saying all my running around did was give him the privilege of killing three generations of Fentons under the same roof. I was sure I was going to die at that moment, he was going to kill me and there was nothing I could do about it.”

“Then how did you survive?”

“I’m not sure what happened. I looked at my daughter at what I thought would be the last time and something stirred in me. I couldn’t let her die there. I refused to let him kill her. That feeling, that need to save her, I don’t know it gave me a second wind. I used up the last of my energy to let out one of my Ghostly Wails. It was enough to send Vlad back into the Ghost Zone and overload the portal, destroying it. I don’t remember anything else after that, only waking up in the hospital with Jazz at my bedside. She told me that my Wail had made Fenton Works collapse in on itself, and that Tucker and Valerie managed to pull me out before I could get crushed under the rubble.”

“And what about Ophelia?”

“I woke up after the last surgery to remove the blood blossoms. She was still in a coma. Sam and I would stay at her bedside until she woke up screaming three months later. We moved out of Amity Park shortly after Ophelia was discharged, we didn’t think the town was safe anymore.”

“Thank you, Mr. Fenton.”

Fleming went to her seat, just missing Daniel’s nod of gratitude. With a little help from Lewis, Lomax rose from his chair and made his way to the witness stand.

“That is quite a story, Mr. Fenton. With the power of fatherly love, you managed to survive prolonged exposure to blood blossoms to fend off my client and bring you and your daughter home safely.”

“It’s the truth.” Daniel defended, not missing the tone of skepticism.

“You do have to admit, it is a bit on the fantastical side. You couldn’t even get on your feet and yet you mustered up enough strength to unleash a Ghostly Wail, one of the most powerful and physically taxing of your ghostly abilities?”

“Like I said, I don’t quite know how I did it, only that it happened. I’ve done greater feats than that when I was still in high school.”

“I do not doubt that. Tell me, Mr. Fenton, how was life like growing up with ghost hunters as parents.”

Daniel shrugged, the baffled look on his face gave away his uncertainty of where the question would lead.

“They were just like any other parents. They were embarrassing at times, a little absent-minded, but they still loved and supported me and my sister with everything they had.”

“Is it true that when you first received your powers, you hid your ghost half from your parents.”

“I hid it from everyone, the only people who knew were my friends, who were there when it happened, and Vlad when he saw change back after almost killing me in out first fight.”

“But you hid it from your parents especially. Was there a reason for that?”

Daniel cast his eyes down, his face becoming more stern than sad. It reminded Vlad a little of Maddie, when she was working on a particularly difficult equation.

“I was a stupid, scared kid. Part of me always knew that they loved me and would accept me no matter what-“  
  
“But you were scared they would rip you apart molecule by molecule before you even had the chance to explain yourself.”

Daniel looked up, perplexed. Before he could say anything, Lomax held up a hand.

“At least that’s how your sister explained it in her book.”

Daniel’s eyes went wide, darting into the gallery to meet Jasmine’s. Vlad turned back to the gallery to see Jasmine sharing the same expression as her brother. Lomax took a hardcover book from the Defense table and opened to the part marked with a red plastic tab.

“Defense Exhibit 57, a copy of _Paranormal Development: A Study and A Memoir_ by Dr. Jasmine Fenton, PhD,” Lomax handed the book to Daniel, “Please read the highlighted passage, Mr. Fenton.”

Daniel did as he was told and began to read.   
  
“’After discovering my brother’s alter ego, I had many questions and many worries. I had planned on talking to him about it that night, but overhearing a discussion between our parents over a recent ghost attack drove my brother away from ever discussing it. Our parents loved us without question, which made it all the more heartbreaking hearing them talking about destroying ghosts, especially Danny Phantom. Our father wanted to completely obliterate the infamous Ghost Boy, while our mother wanted to dissect him to further their research on the paranormal. They compromised by agreeing to tear him apart “molecule by molecule” if they ever successfully captured him. I cannot imagine fully the turmoil and misery Danny must have felt while maintaining his secret identity, scared that his own parents might hate and kill him for something that was beyond his control.’”

“Is any of that true?”

Daniel sighed deeply, reluctantly.

“Yes, it’s all true.” He said while handing the book back to Lomax. Lomax flipped through the pages until he stopped on a placed marked with a blue tab.

“The book goes further to describe an incident one summer where your secret was revealed to the world before Phantom Planet and you used a mystical device to erase everyone’s memory of the event, including your parents. Was that true as well.”

“Yes, it happened.”

“Could you explain why you did that? According to your sister, your parents sounded very accepting of your ghost half.”

“Like I said, I was stupid. I needed to erase everyone’s memories so the Guys in White wouldn’t come after me again, I didn’t think I could make an exception for my parents.”

“Oh come on, Mr. Fenton, you don’t think we’ll really buy that. I’m sure you have another reason for it.”

“I didn’t want to face it just yet. I knew my parents were going to have a lot of questions that I didn’t feel ready to answer-“

“You were worried that they were going to perform tests on you.”

Daniel pursed his lips before grumbling “Yes”

“Did they ever perform tests on you after you revealed your ghost half to them?”  
  
“None that were any different than a doctor would run on a human patient. It was only to help me and my future children if any health issues arose.”  
  
“So you were never worried they would go overboard with their research and harm you as a result?”  
  
“They’d never harm me intentionally, and it’s no worse than what I would get fighting criminals.”

“So you felt safe letting them perform tests on you?”

“Safer than I feel at a doctor’s office.”

“Did your parents perform any tests on Ophelia?”

“Only medical examinations. They worked with her pediatricians to help them fill in some gaps that came with her unique biology. Even before then, my mother worked with Sam’s OB-GYN while she was pregnant to ensure there won’t be any ecto-based complications that could harm Sam or the baby.”

“So you feel safe with leaving her with your parents?”

“Of course, they watched over her when I was at work and when Sam was in law school. They loved her, they even spoiled her more than I do, which according to my wife says a lot. There was nowhere safer we could leave her than in the care of her grandparents,” Daniel shot a dark look over to Vlad, “Or so we thought.”

“What do you think you would have done if you found out your parents have been experimenting on your daughter?”  
“They’d never do that to her?” Daniel cried, outraged. Vlad could have sworn that his eyes turned green for a moment.

“Of course not, but if they did and you found out, what would you have done?”

“Told them off, I guess, I’d certainly never let them near her again.”

“What if one of their experiments harmed her? What would you have done then?”

“I said they would never hurt her.”

“Not on purpose, but they have had a history of laboratory mishaps that has caused injuries to others. My client is an example of that, and so are you in some respect.”

“They learned from their mistakes, they made safer protocols in the lab. Ophelia wasn’t even allowed to go near the lab unless there was someone there to watch her.”

“I understand that, Mr. Fenton, but let’s say if they weren’t as cautious and something happened. What would you have done if your parents had caused harm on your only child?”

Daniel shook his head.

“I-I don’t know.”

Lomax nodded and made a sort of gesture with his hand to convey that he will leave the subject alone. He set the book back down on the table, further gesturing that he was done with that line of questioning.

“Mr. Fenton, would you say you have a good control of yourself?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Your powers, your temper, do you feel you’ve got a good grasp on both?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“So you believe that if you came into contact with a particularly dangerous perpetrator, you would be able to apprehend them in a humane and lawful manner?”

“Yes, sir, to the best of my abilities.”

“I see,”

Lewis slid a folder across the table towards Lomax. Lomax picked it up and began looking through it. Vlad eyed the file and the tiny words printed neatly on the tab. Finally, he thought as his smile grew, they were getting to Roat.

“Mr. Fenton, can you recall an incident that happened on June 16th, 2014?”

All the blood drained from Daniel’s face, a sight Vlad rarely had the pleasure of seeing and savored it whenever he could.

“I don’t see how that is relevant to this case.”

“It goes to your credibility as a witness and your character. Could you please relate to the jury what occurred on June 16th, 2014?”

Daniel was quiet for a moment, looking as though the memory and the very thought of relating it was eating him from the inside. Finally, with a look of a man resigning to his fate at the gallows, he began to speak.

“June 16th, that was a Monday. Sam and I were witnesses for a trial against a man we apprehended name Anthony Roat. He was the leader of a ring of humans that kidnapped ghosts from the Ghost Zone and trafficked them on the Human Plane. Something went wrong during the trial and Roat got a hold of a bailiff’s gun, shot three people, and held my wife at gunpoint,” in a quieter voice, he said, “She was six months pregnant at the time.

“I followed after him to the roof of the courthouse. He had a gun to Sam’s head. I told him that there was no way out, that he should give up now before he made it worse for himself. But he didn’t listen. He kept talking about what he might do with Sam if he decided to ‘keep her’. Then he started talking about what he should do with the baby when it came along. He had this awful look in his eye when he heard we were expecting a girl. He said he hoped that she’ll be as pretty as her mother…I don’t remember much after that.”

“What do you remember, then?”  
  
“A bright light, some screams, then he wasn’t on the roof anymore. Sam had to help me piece together what happened between then.”  
  
“So what did happen?”  
  
“I-I blasted him with my ghost ray. I only meant to knock him away from Sam, but it ended up sending him flying off the roof.” Daniel’s eyes went dead, his mind was clearly elsewhere, “The man died that day, and I was responsible for it.” 

“And because you were protecting your wife and unborn child, you weren’t charged for his death.”

“That is correct.”

“Are you sure you have good control of yourself?”

 “I’m not usually not like that. I’m usually good in high stress situations. But seeing my family in danger like Sam and our unborn daughter was-“

“Ah, so when your family is threatened, it is fine to be reckless with other people’s lives.”

This time, Vlad was certain that Daniel’s eyes turned green.

“I’m not proud of what I did. I killed a man, and I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life, however long that may be. I swore to myself that I would never let myself lose control like that ever again.”

“Yet four years later, you were considering killing my client, as you stated minutes before.”

“I stopped myself when I heard Ophelia’s voice-“  
  
“But you were still very close to adding another man to your body count. So, Mr. Fenton, based on your past experiences, is it safe to say that when your family is in immediate danger, you have significantly less control of yourself?”

Daniel’s anger changed into shock. His eyes darted around the room as he tried to find the right answer to the question.

“I suppose, based solely on those incidences, that could be true.”

“So then it would be safe to say that if you saw your child hurt, just as she was hurt that night, you might fly into a rage that could cause severe harm or even death to the person responsible, no matter who they are or how it had happened?”

“I wouldn’t want anyone dead-“

“Yes or no, Mr. Fenton, could it happen?”

Daniel was defeated. The despair of that knowledge became clear on his face.

“Yes, it could happen.”

The room was silent, yet there was a buzz in the air. It was the discomfort of everyone in the room, Vlad knew. They were trying to understand what they heard but not quite handling it. It was a bitter pill to swallow, a pill that some are simply incapable of choking down.

“Let the record show,” Lomax said, not a trace of joy in his voice or withered features, “That Daniel Fenton, also known as Danny Phantom, has admitted to being capable of murder.”

Still no sound, the reactions were in the faces alone. Vlad scanned the room to see the look of utter shock, disappointment, and anger in their faces. Jasmine and Foley looked solemn but not surprised, most likely from being there when the incident with Roat happened. Valerie looked outraged by how far the trial has veered off course. It was clear that this was the first time Danielle had heard about the incident, and was just as appalled as the rest of the gallery. Even Lewis, who had found the records of the incident and agreed with Lomax that they should use it, was visibly distraught.

“Nothing further.”

* * *

Finally, the time came for Vlad’s testimony. He had prepared for this for weeks, since the moment he decided to put this case to trial. Unlike his opposition, he had prepared for every question they could possibly ask him, every jab they could possibly make to his ego. He was going to make a brilliant performance, one that no one in this courthouse, let alone the world, will ever forget.   
  
As Vlad was swearing in, he could hear Valerie whisper in the back of the gallery, “It’s amazing that he can touch a Bible without it burning him.”

“It’s amazing that the _Bible_ isn’t catching on fire,” he heard Samantha whisper back, winning a few snickers from their little group.    
  
“I’m pretty sure he can hear you guys,” Daniel whispered, eyes not leaving Vlad. “I can hear a pin drop from across the street on a rainy day, so he most likely can hear you guys from across a room.”  
  
Vlad flick his eyes over to them and snuck an unkind smile to let them know that yes, he can hear them.

“Let him hear,” Danielle whispered, eyes flashing as bright as she could with an inhibitor cuff on. “He should know how we think of him.”

“Didn’t know we were being subtle before.” Clipped Foley.

“Quiet,” scolded Jasmine, “I won’t be able to hear the questions if you keep chattering.”  
  
“Don’t worry, children, ” Vlad called out, bringing all the attention of the courtroom towards him and the little group, “I’m willing to wait until you are done with your little conversation.”

Foley, Jasmine, and Danielle halted and looked away bashfully. Danielle, Samantha and Valerie, however, stared him dead on, letting him know they are not easily embarrassed. _Good to know_ , Vlad thought.

Once everything was quiet again, and once Lomax was done glaring at Vlad, the questions began.

“Mr. Masters, how do you know the deceased, Jack and Madeline Fenton?”

“We all went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Jack I met first, we lived down the hall of each other our first year and became roommates the second. We had a couple of the same classes as we both had interests in the scientific field, though he was more interested in engineering and I biology. We both had an interest in the Paranormal, though I was more entertained by the theory of unexplained phenomena while Jack was utterly obsessed with ghosts. We didn’t take long in becoming friends, in hindsight I’d say that was due to not being very popular on campus.”

“How did you meet Madeline?” Lomax interjected, rightly stopping Vlad before he started writing his memoir on the stand.  

Vlad smiled dreamily. Even now, the sound of her name gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling.

“Ah, yes, Maddie. I’ll never forget the day I met her, it’s forever seared into my mind. Her family had a livable income, but they weren’t exactly rich. They could only afford the small portion of her expenses that weren’t covered by her scholarships. Everything else, she earned through various jobs on campus, including working as a lab assistant for some of the professors in the science department. Jack was in one of the classes she was assisting, and became friends with her instantly. Jack convinced her to use her access to the labs and some of the equipment to help us with the prototypes he was working on. He took me to the engineering lab, late one night towards the end of our first semester, where she let us in. She didn’t wear makeup at the time, she hardly did, and her attempt at a perm came out as frizz, but by god she was beautiful. But she was shy, too, very shy. She didn’t really have any friends other than Jack and me. She would hardly leave her dorm room for anything other than work or classes. I fell in love with her that night, and hadn’t stopped being in love with her since.” 

“Did you ever approach her about your romantic feelings towards her?”

Vlad’s smile faded.

“No, I didn’t. Like I said, she was very shy, and I doubted she ever had a boy approach her romantically before. I settled with building a friendship for the time being, wait until she was more comfortable around me and Jack so she wouldn’t fall apart when I asked her.”

He rehearsed this speech a hundred times and still his temper flared at the memory. It had become a knee jerk reaction, a habit built from decades of stewing on every injustice that he had suffered in his lifetime. _Don’t show too much of your anger,_ He reminded himself, _You want to seem passionate, not bitter._  
  
“I didn’t consider Jack as competition,” he continued. “Not at the time. They’d work together on his prototypes, he’d develop them and she’d correct his errors. He didn’t even see her for her beauty. I don’t think he even noticed she was a woman at first. It was always about her brains and her passion for ghosts. Maddie seemed only interested in the science. Her eyes were always glued to her papers, crunching numbers and figures. They were completely oblivious to each other in terms of romantic interest, so I never considered their friendship as a threat. But then something changed. She changed. She became more confident in herself, she went out more. She paid more attention to her appearance. She and Jack were beginning to look at each other differently. They were on the brink of becoming more than lab partners. I decided to tell her about my feelings for her before they realized theirs… Unfortunately, the day I chose to tell her was the day we were testing the prototype ghost portal.”  
  
“That was the day you had your accident? The one that gave you your ghost powers?”  
  
Vlad sighed, his face turned solemn. A sad face for a sad memory. The jury must know you have human emotions.

“The world remembers it as the day Plasmius was born, Jack and Maddie remembered it as the day they almost killed their friend, I remember it as the day I lost the love of my life. Of course they visited me at the hospital every day, at first. But everything fades, even guilt, even friendship. After the first two months, their visits became fewer and fewer. Every day became three times a day, three times a day became weekends, weekends became twice a month until they stopped showing up altogether. And since they were the only people who ever cared about me, I spent the last six months of my time at the hospital utterly alone. The next time I heard from either of them is when they mailed me an invitation to their wedding.” Vlad looked over to the jury, trying to look as sad and beaten down as he could muster, “I suppose you all know what happened after that.”

“Did you ever hold a grudge against Jack and Madeline for the accident?”

Vlad put a hand to his chest, displaying an expression of utter shock and indignation.

“Maddie? No! Never! I would never be mad at her for that. She was trying to stop Jack when he started up the machine. And it wasn’t like she didn’t suffer, either. She made a mistake marrying Jack. She could’ve had her own career but instead she spent her life fixing Jack’s screw ups. Honestly, the only good that ever came out of their relationship were their children.”   
  
Vlad smiled to Daniel and Jasmine as he said the last part. Jasmine froze in the middle of writing her notes, unsure of what to make of his inclusion of her in his statement. Daniel only glared and inched closer towards Danielle and Jasmine, ready to protect them from any attack he must be imagining would happen.   
  
“And what about Jack?” asked Lomax, subtly trying to pull Vlad’s attention away from the Fenton children. “Did you hold a grudge against Jack for the accident?”

“Of course I did. Because of his carelessness I almost died, I was trapped in the hospital in utter agony for almost a year, my initial career plans were utterly ruined, and just to twist the proverbial knife in my back, he married the love of my life. He had to pay for what he had done to me, by any means necessary.”

“So, you did plan to seek revenge on your former friend, but it was only Jack you wanted to hurt. Do I understand you correctly?”

“Yes,” He turned towards the jury, meeting each of their eyes long enough to seem sincere, “I only wished ill fate to Jack, I did not want anyone else hurt.”

“And what about their son? Did you have any ill will towards Daniel Fenton?”

Vlad turned his eyes from the jury to Lomax and then finally locked eyes with Daniel.

“Not at first. As I have sworn to tell the whole truth, I have to admit that I wasn’t impressed with Daniel when I first met him. He seemed like your run-of-the-mill teenager, with the only thing he inherited from his mother were her big doe eyes. But then I found out that he was half ghost, just like me. I saw a boy who would spend his half-life confused and alone if I didn’t take him in as my protégé. I saw the son that I always wanted and Jack didn’t deserve to have. I still think of him as a son, once in a while.  Sometimes I still dream of him accepting me as a father. Though now I know that is not in the cards for me. He was too stubborn, refused my help out of principle and loyalty to his father. After too many rejections and humiliations, I eventually gave up on the boy. Instead, I did my best to get him out of my way.”

“So you swore the same revenge upon Daniel Fenton as you had done to his father?”

“Perhaps not the exact same, what I would plan for Jack was slower and much more painful. However, my plans for both of them would result in their untimely demise.” Vlad turned back to the jury box. “But as I said, I would never wish to harm anyone else due to my scheming.”

“So you don’t think you would ever hurt Madeline?”

Vlad turned back to Lmoax, feigning shock. He even forced some tears to well up.

“Absolutely not, I loved her! I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Why would I ever want to destroy my one reason for living?”

“Why indeed? So you are saying you had nothing to do with Jack and Madeline’s death?”

“That is exactly what I’m saying. I was distraught when I heard about their deaths, both of their deaths. I felt like a part of me died with them that night.”

“And you have nothing to do with their granddaughter’s abduction and assault?”

Vlad was silent, and let a tear roll down his cheek.

“I didn’t even know Daniel had a child until news of what happened that night reached me almost two days after. There were pictures of her on every newspaper, every news site, every station…Jack used to send me pictures of his children when they were growing up, before the reunion, as an attempt to try and include me in their lives. I never paid attention to them until after I met Daniel in person…she looked so much like Daniel at that age, and I could see hints of Maddie in her as well. Just the thought of someone doing something so horrible to a child so young…” he stopped, and pretended to let his emotions overwhelm him. He started to sob, and buried his face in his hands.

“Are you alright, Mr. Masters?” Lomax asked. Vlad noted how much better Lomax was at masking his exasperation than he had forty years ago.

Vlad held up a hand as a gesture to assure the court he was fine. He was about to give his excuse but, to even his surprise, he found himself too choked up to speak.

“Mr. Masters, do you need a moment?” asked Judge Laurel, becoming less and less skeptical of his tears by the minute.

Vlad waved a hand to suggest that he’ll be fine. It took him a couple of minutes to finally calm himself down. _I guess I over-committed,_ he thought to himself.

“I’m fine, really I am,” he said while taking out his handkerchief to wipe off the tears. “It’s just…”

He took a moment, just to make sure the tears were completely out of his system. He turned to the jury, making eye contact with every confused and skeptical face.

“I am a monster. I know that, this court knows that, the entire world and most of the Ghost Zone knows it. I have done plenty of terrible things in my life, which I have willingly confessed to before the people. But even monsters have standards, a line they would never cross, and what happened on that night was mine. Never would I harm the woman I love, and never, in my entire life or in m afterlife, would I even _consider_ causing that much pain to such a young child, let alone _that_ child. I can see how the Fentons could think that I had something to do with this, and frankly I cannot blame them for their assumptions, but I am here to say I have no affiliation with this crime, and if I could I would hunt down the true perpetrator and let them know the pain they have wrought.”

Vlad snuck a peek over to his friends in the gallery. Valerie and Samantha kept their hard, skeptical looks, unmoved by his display. The rest of the group, on the other hand, didn't seem to know what to make of it. Jasmine seemed especially baffled, trying to find a flaw in his performance or trying to find a rational answer to his behavior. He has to be lying, she must be thinking, all he does is lie. But the tears looked so real, that must mean something. Perhaps there’s something going on behind this act of his, she must be wondering, perhaps he is truly feeling sorry for what he has done.  
  
_Sorry, Jasmine, but there’s nothing to feel sorry for._

Still holding back and eye roll, Lomax took his seat, indicating that he was done with his questions. Fleming did not leave her seat. She stared at the files laid out on the table while clicking her pen in the slow rhythm of a metronome.

 “So you care about Danny,” she asked, not looking away from the papers in front of her. “Do I understand you correctly?”

Vlad was slow to respond, whether from surprise or deep thought he’ll leave for the jury to interpret.  
  
“I always have, and despite everything part of me still wishes that he were my son.”

“And you feel the same about his daughter as well? That is what I inferred, at least.”

“You would infer correctly. In fact, I think I care about her more.”

“More than her father? You claim you never met Ophelia in person until a few months ago.”

“I have kept tabs on the Fenton family since I heard about that night. In a way, from a distance, I saw her grow up. I wound up growing attached to her before we even met.”

Fleming’s eyes shot up from the papers to Vlad, as if he finally became interesting enough to acknowledge.

“’Kept tabs’? Is that what you call aggravated stalking?”

“Objection” called Lewis, rising to his feet.

Fleming turned her head lazily to Lewis and back to the judge. With a shrug, she responded, “I am only referring to the charges that the defendant willingly plead guilty to.”

“Those charges are irrelevant to this case.”

“The defendant just stated that they are a direct result of this case.”

Judge Laurel held up her hand.

“I’ll allow it, but don’t stray too far.”

Fleming held up a hand to indicate that she was fine with it. She rested her head into her hand as she turned back to Vlad.

“Well, Mr. Masters?”

Vlad folded his hands into his lap and adjusted his posture, preparing himself for the road bump Fleming was setting up for him.

“I am aware that the law defines my actions as stalking, which is quite a harsh term though accurate. It was the only way I could know what was happening to Daniel and his family. I knew he wouldn’t allow a direct meeting, and considering our history I suppose he was right to do so.”

“Ah, I see, and what do you call the two billion dollar bounty you placed on Ophelia’s head when the Fenton’s moved back into town?”

“The two billion was for her to be brought back to me alive. I thought it was time for her to meet me in person. I knew she would run if I came near her, Daniel undoubtedly taught her never to go near me by telling her horror stories. So I hired some of my old assistants to bring her over to me.”

“Right, two billion for her alive. The one billion was for her dead body.”

Vlad shrugged.

“It was…motivation for Ophelia to see me. If she wasn’t going to let my hired help escort her to meet me, then she’ll have to dodge the bullets and make sure no one gets hurt in her place. The plan worked better than I expected, she wound up coming to me on her own.”

“And what’s your explanation for the kidnapping her weeks after in attempt to perform mind-altering surgery? Or the last kidnapping and attempted murder of her and her father, the one that led to your arrest?”

“I learned from my past with Daniel not to underestimate a Phantom, no matter what age, or offer them too many chances. The moment she rejected me she became a threat and thus had to be destroyed. I care for her and Daniel deeply, but I decided a long time ago to choose my life before all else.”

“Do you believe that a fourteen-year-old girl would kill you for no reason?”

“No, but the girl won’t stay fourteen forever. Just look at her father. In a blink of an eye, what once was a meek and runty teenager became a full grown adult. And now we’ve learned that he killed a man.”

“So you are willing to harm a child in order to protect yourself from a potential threat?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“But I thought you said that harming a child was a line that you would never cross.”

“I said I would never harm a child as young as Ophelia was, I waited until she was older to give her the choice.”

“Are you sure your attempts had nothing to do with wanting revenge on your old nemesis by hurting his family?”

Vlad smiled. Finally she was getting to her point.

“Perhaps, but it wasn’t the main reason.”

“Isn’t it? You say that you care about the Fentons but your behavior towards them reads more predatory than of genuine concern. Danny rejected your offer to take him in as your son so you wanted to make him suffer. Is that what happened to Ophelia, too? Did you make the offer to her that night, after killing her grandparents and promising to do the same to her parents? Did she reject you like Danny rejected you? Did she call you crazy like her father used to? Is that why you wanted to make her suffer?”

“Objection!” cried Lewis again. However, Vlad held up a hand to him.

“It’s alright, I’m willing to humor her.” Turning back to Fleming, he responded,  “I will admit, that does sound a bit like me, but I am firm on my stance on harming young children. Honestly, how fragile do you think my ego is that you would assume that a few petty insults from a four-year-old would send me into a violent rage?”  
  
“Do you really want to know the answer to that, Mr. Masters?”

“Tell me, I’m certain it’s no different than what everyone else in this town thinks of me.”

“I think you are the worse example that human or ghost kind has to offer, but not in the way others may feel.”

Vlad raised a curious eyebrow in her direction.

“Is that so?”

Fleming nodded and continued.

 “You like to think yourself as some sort of demigod, able to beat any opponent, but you only attack those you know are weaker than you.”

His fingers hooked onto the edge of the witness stand. His body was beginning to become rigid.

“I don’t think that is a fair description-“ He defended, but Fleming cut him off.

“Unarmed humans, children, weaker ghosts, you are more than willing to pummel them but as soon as a true test to your mettle arrives and lands a punch to you, you run home with your tail between your legs and leave the mess for someone else to clean up.”

His fingers clawed into the wood. His muscles, ready to spring to his feet at any moment. An instinctive reaction, he knew, from handling impertinent ghosts. A deep part of him, buried by his inhibitor, was growling at him to let Fleming know who was the more powerful one. Just as he had done with all the other ghosts who gave him difficulty, just as he had done with the boy.

“I have done nothing of the like-“

“You’ve held a twenty-year grudge just because some girl put you in the friend zone and chose someone else? Seriously? That’s just sad.”   
  
“See here, young lady-“  
  
“You are just a sad, pathetic, demented old man whose powers lets him and others believe his own delusions.”

Vlad’s fingers curled tightly into fists. Somewhere in the red fog, he heard himself growling, “I am not delusional and I am _not_ pathetic!”

The bang of the judge’s gavel snapped him back, and the fog evaporated. When he regained clarity he noticed that he had gotten to his feet, and that there was crumpled wood in his fists. By the look of Fleming, and the look of the entire courtroom, his eyes must have turned red through the inhibitor. Fascinating, he thought. Despite it possibly costing his case, he couldn’t help but smile at the look of terror on Fleming’s face. She even retreated a few steps…not something you’d do if you thought a person was pathetic.    
Vlad put on a sheepish expression and sat back down in his seat.

“I am sorry for my outburst,” he said while picking the splinters from his palms, “I’ll be happy to pay for the damages.”

* * *

“What the hell was that!”

Vlad knew Lewis would have an opinion about the incident on the stand, as he does about nearly everything during this case. To Vlad’s surprise, however, even Lomax was outraged. He was still telling Vlad off when they came over to consult with him in prison.

“You couldn’t hold yourself together for one day, _one day!_ Do you enjoy making our lives difficult?”  
  
“Oh, come off it, William,” Vlad said, “You’ve done well with a lot worse. Besides, everyone knows that I’m a monster, our whole stance is that I’m a monster.”  
  
“All true, but with your case it’s all a delicate balancing act. There’s no such thing as ‘innocent until proven guilty’ anymore. Pretty much everyone out there is convinced that you did it, and you just confirmed that those suspicions are true.”

“You planned for this, didn’t you? I certainly hoped you planned for this with how much I’m paying you. All that’s left are the closing arguments, just spin it so there’s enough reasonable doubt and we should be fine.”

Lomax shook his head. He took off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple anymore. I got a notice while you were getting loaded into the car. The prosecution found another witness for their side.”  
  
A burst of glee came over Vlad, making him smile. Lewis, however, gave Lomax a dumbfounded look.

“What are you talking about? Who is left to testify?”

Still smiling, Vlad asked Lomax, “It’s her, isn’t it?”

“Her who…” Lewis asked, annoyed. Soon, his eyes went wide in small terror. “Wait, you mean the kid?!”

Lomax nodded.

“Fleming gave me the notice that Ophelia Fenton is willing to testify about that night.”

“She found the courage to take the stand,” Vlad said, with far too much glee in his voice, “I am proud of her, I knew she’d come around before it was too late.”

Lewis inched away from Vlad, his panic for the case did well to hide his disgust for his client.

“We can make a motion to suppress,” Lewis said, fast-paced and almost stammering. He went into his briefcase and fumbled with his papers. “It’s too last minute and she’s probably been coached by her parents, we can make sure she never takes the stand-“

“You will do no such thing.” Vlad said.

Lewis turned to look at him in utter disbelief. Lomax, on the other hand, looked exhausted and annoyed, far too aware of his client’s peculiar, self-destructive tendencies.

“What?”

“Do not do anything to keep the girl off the stand.” Vlad told him, in a slow enough diction for him to understand. “I want her to testify.”

“Mr. Masters, as your attorney, I strongly urge against letting that girl testify.”

“I understand your obligations and your reasoning, but I want that girl to testify. This whole trial is for her, after all.”

“Is this what this all is to you? Some sort of mind game between you and a teenager?”

“Not a game and it’s not just for her, she just happens to benefit from it the most. I didn’t hire you to pick apart my motivations. I hired the best attorney I know to defend my case to get the result I want. Somehow, you got thrown into the deal. If you don’t think you can handle the task given to you, you are free to resign from this case. But if you are willing to take the challenge, then don’t question me and do what I ask of you. Do you understand me?”  
  
Lewis wouldn’t look at him. His arms crossed, his body tense as if to fight off his aggressive urges.   
  
“I do not understand you,” he grumbled, “I don’t think I’ll ever understand the reasoning behind making a child relive a traumatic experience when it isn’t necessary…but I will comply to your…” Vlad knew the word he was going to use, and just how afraid he was for even thinking about it. Vlad found Lewis both smart and pathetic when he caught himself and found another word. “I will help carry out your rather unusual demands…I believe that Lomax is much more prepared to handle the cross examination than I am.”

Lewis turned to Lomax with pleading eyes, begging for his mentor to give him the answers he needs. Lomax noted the silent plea and rummaged through his briefcase for notes.   
  
“I had a few things prepared from when we were unsure whether or not she would choose to testify. References for a few child psychology specialists that can dispute her credibility as an eyewitness. There’s a chance that we can get through her testimony with minimal damage to our case, though not a large one, especially not after your outburst.” He turned to Vlad, giving him a look Vlad had hardly seen when Lomax was under employment. A look devoid of humor but brimming with intensity. “If this is to work, you cannot intimidate her in any way. Don’t look at her a certain way, don’t smile at her, don’t have any of your assistants send any more presents,” Vlad was about to protest but Lomax was quick to cut him off. “I don’t care whether or not you did it, I do not want it happening again. You want to win, don’t you? I’ve seen you burn your money on a lot of useless junk before, but you never invest so much of your time and money into something like this unless you come out ahead.”

Vlad leaned back into his chair and waved him off.  
  
“Relax, William, I won’t do anything to jeopardize the case. I doubt she’ll even look in my direction when she takes the stand…did the notice say whether she’ll be physically present in the courtroom or if they are going to do those video communications as they do for younger children?”

“I don’t see how that will make any difference.” Lewis clipped.

“It does to me,” said Vlad, “If she’s in the courtroom she’ll be a lot more sensitive and I will have to show a lot more restraint.” There was also the matter of her ice powers, which he suspected might still show despite the inhibitor cuff she’ll have to wear.

“She’ll be there in person,” Lomax answered. “So you’ll have to behave yourself.”

  “Not to worry, Lomax, I’ll be on my best behavior. And so long as you two do the job I paid you for,” His eye went straight to Lewis, whose permanent smile has started to slowly form into a frown. “We should be able to get through this without a hitch.”

* * *

The courtroom significantly emptier than it had been throughout the entirety of the trial. As requested by the prosecution and enforced by the judge, only a few members of the press were allowed, and none of them were allowed large cameras or the use of a flash. Likewise, a large amount of the public weren’t allowed into the gallery, leaving only a handful of people who, one way or another, had some connection to the case or the people involved. Out of the group of ghost women, only the green-haired nanny was present, along with her uncomfortable significant other. Another ghost joined them, however, one he hadn’t seen in the courtroom until now. This one seemed to have died in her late teens, with her appearance indicating that she was from very early in the 20th century.  Vlad recognized her from Richard’s surveillance of Ophelia, the ghost who pretended to be human to go to school with her. She looked uncomfortable being there, as though she was aware that she didn’t belong. She didn’t, of course, she had only known the Fentons for a few months. She probably knew nothing about the murders until now.

Danielle, Tucker and Valerie sat in the front row of the gallery, right behind Fleming’s table. A section at the end of the row was left empty, possibly for Daniel and Samantha after they gave their child some final words of encouragement. Just as Vlad began to wonder where Jasmine went, she entered the courtroom and hurried to the end of the front row. She had a look of motherly concern that reminded Vlad painfully of Maddie. It’s a shame Jasmine never had children, Vlad couldn’t help but think, she would have never picked a fool to father them.

Daniel came in not too long after. He looked paler than usual, which emphasized the bruise-blue circles under his blood-shot eyes. He was guided down the aisle by his wife, who was much more calm and composed than him, or at least appeared to be. She murmured assurances to him, “She’ll be fine. She’s our daughter after all. She needs to do this.”

They took their seats beside Jasmine at the last two spaces of the front row. Jasmine put a hand on her brother’s shoulder, giving a reassuring smile. The other three sent him smiles of their own, with varying convictions. Samantha seemed to be the only one of them that was certain about this, and even she showed a hint of unease.   
  
After what may have been a lifetime to a majority of the court, Judge Laurel called the trial back into session and requested the prosecution to bring in their final witness. Fleming complied.

“The People call Ophelia Manson-Fenton to the stand.”

The bailiff opened the door to the courtroom, and the cameras were quick to swarm around the aisle and fill the room with the soft _click, click, clicks_ of the releasing shutters. He could not see her through the mass of bodies. As soon as he tried to get up to get a better look he was yanked back down by the hem of his suit jacket.   
  
“Don’t look so interested.” Lomax whispered. “Sit down and keep your eyes forward.”

Vlad scowled at first, but then gave a defeated nod and did exactly as he was told. He knew Lomax was right, he knew better than to show eagerness towards seeing a supposed victim. Just because the cameras were on the girl doesn’t mean there weren’t eyes on him.

He finally saw her when she passed by the defense table on the way to the witness stand. Like her mother, her outfit seemed to be handpicked to remind the jury that she was the victim. Her hair was tied into two loose braids, already fraying like old rope, and a light blue headband to keep the loose strands out of her face. She wore a black full skirt, a pale blue sweater that was two sizes too big for her, stockings that were a shade lighter than her sweater and a pair of black mary-janes that appeared to have been freshly shined for the occasion. Her appearance made her look smaller and meeker than usual. One could forget that there was immeasurable power contained within that frail body. There were dark rings around her large eyes and she had a sickly pallor, most likely from not getting one full night of sleep since this trial began. She made an effort to not look in the direction of the defense table, not to look at him. It was clear that whatever amount of courage she had, she was still afraid of him.

Vlad pursed his lips, fighting back a smile. Despite the situation, he was glad to see her. He hardly ever got to see her in person, a lot less than Daniel when he was her age.  Even though she didn’t look as old as she was, even though he had watched her grow from a distance, it was bizarre so see how much she has (and hasn’t) changed since the night he first saw her. He wondered if she could read him despite the inhibitor. From what Waltz told him, hardly anything dampens her ability. He wondered if she was averting her eyes because she didn’t want to read him or because of what she was sensing from him. But all he felt was an abundance of joy from finally seeing her after those long weeks in prison, awaiting this trial. How could any of that frighten her so?

 _Don’t be afraid, my little princess,_ Vlad thought, in case he could hear her, _You’ve went through all this trouble just to see me, there’s no reason for you to be scared._

Just for a moment, ever so slightly, Ophelia flinched away from Vlad’s direction. It startled him, only a little, but it also fascinated him. What a wonder!  
 _  
_ Ophelia swore in and took her seat in the stand, not once looking in Vlad’s direction. Fleming approached her gently as one would a small animal that was easily frightened.

“Would you please state your name for the court?” Fleming asked with a warm and delicate tone.

“My name is Ophelia Fenton,” she answered flatly.

“Oh, sorry honey,” Fleming corrected her softly, “We need to hear your full name, as it appears on your birth certificate.”

Ophelia frowned and looked to the floor. With a slight blush, she answered: “ My full name is Ophelia Lilith Manson-Fenton.”  
  
“What is your relation to this case?”

Ophelia kept her eyes down and began to fidget.

“…I saw my grandparents get tortured and murdered,” she said, just above a whisper, “And was abducted and almost killed by their murderer.”

“Please tell us everything you remember from the night of December 24th, 2018.”

Ophelia nodded hesitantly. She fidgeted, twisting her arms around each other and clasping her hands to keep them in place.

“It was snowing that night. My mom had put me to bed in my dad’s old room after my grandma gave me her gift: her old haz-mat goggles. She was reading me one of our favorite poems when Dad called her from downstairs. He sounded urgent. When I came down stairs, Mom and Dad were already out the door with Uncle Tucker. They fe- I mean, they looked nervous about something. They all did, even my grandparents whom I’ve never seen scared…at least not that I remember. I asked them why Uncle Tucker was there and why Mom and Dad left and the told me to go back to bed. When I demanded to know what was happened, they threatened to take my presents away if I didn’t go to bed right that instant so I went back to bed.”

“Did you ever come back down the stairs that night?” Fleming asked.

Ophelia bit the corner of her lip and nodded.

“Why did you do that?”

Ophelia looked conflicted and took a moment to answer.

“Because…because I heard something. I thought it was…” Ophelia sighed, eyes faded to a pale jade green. “I thought I was hearing Santa downstairs.”

Vlad knew she was lying. She was so terrible at it that it was a miracle she got away with anything. She must have sensed him that night, just as she sensed him thought a moment ago. She wanted to come down and see the strange new creature that seemed so much like her and her father. She wanted to meet her kinsman.

Ophelia flinched again, putting her hand to the side of her face, blocking Vlad’s view. She continued her story.

“I turned myself invisible and flew over to the stairs. I sat on the step halfway down and saw everything through the railing.”

“What did you see?”

“I saw my grandparents. They were pointing their guns at a man, someone I never saw before. The man was smiling at them, like he hardly seemed aware that there were guns pointing at him. He greeted Grandma and Grandpa like they were old friends, saying how much they’ve changed in fourteen years. He said something about being in deep space too but that didn’t make sense to me, Dad told me all about his job in space and never once mentioned anyone leaving orbit for so long. He asked about my dad too, about wanting to catch up with him too. My grandparents were having none of it and told him to leave. Grandpa called the man Plasmius…and then the man turned into a ghost. The ghost said ‘I suppose if you won’t tell me where he is, then I’ll have to lure him out.’ Then he threw a ghost ray at them. My grandparents and the ghost started shooting at each other, but then the ghost, Plasmius, overpowered them. He said that he only needed one of them to lure my dad out, that he’d be better off if he got rid of dead weight and…”

Ophelia stopped and pursed her lips. Her whole body tensed as she whispered, “I was so stupid…”

 Fleming rested her hands on the edge of the witness stand and peaked over to her.

“It’s okay, tell us what happened next.”

Ophelia took one long, deep breath before she answered.

“I couldn’t let Plasmius hurt my grandparents… So I shot him, and he hit the nearest wall. I made myself visible, _I let him see me_ , I told him to leave my grandparents alone. I tried to punch him, but he caught my fist in his big, black-gloved hand. He held me up in the air in this magenta light to look at me.

“He looked at me weird, like he was appalled at my very existence. Then he got mad, like really mad. ‘Phantom became more and more powerful,’ he said, ‘gained more and more admiration, and he had the audacity to have a child just to rub it in my face.’ Grandpa shot him and got me away from him. Plasmius kept going on about us taking everything from him. He said he was going to collect his dues and take what’s rightfully his. He used duplicates to attack Grandpa and snatch me away. Grandma and Grandpa fought as much as they could to get me back, but it wasn’t enough…”

Ophelia shook her head fervently and covered her eyes. She rubbed her eyes, wiping away the hidden tears. She was speaking faster, at a slightly higher pitch. She must really be getting scared now.

“I-tried-to-get-out-of-his-grip-I-tried-to-phase-through-I-tried-to-break-free-and-help-them-I-really-really-tried-but-I-couldn’t-and-” She swallowed down a sob, but it escaped as a small, squeaky hiccup.

“Ophelia, dear,” Fleming said, taking advantage of the small break in Ophelia’s story, “I’m sorry, but you're speaking too fast for us to understand.”

Color briefly returned to Ophelia’s face as she blushed and averted her gaze from Fleming.

“I'm sorry,”

“It's okay, honey, you just need to talk a little slower so the jury can understand you. How about you take a deep breath before you start again?”

Ophelia nodded and, for once, did as she was told. She shuffled in her seat and wrapped her arms around her middle before she started again, slower and with a little better annunciation.

“He said…Plasmius said that if I hadn’t stepped in he would’ve left one of them. He said I would do better to lure my dad out. Then he told me…then he told me to say goodbye to my grandparents…

“He shocked them at first. They were screaming, and it was so loud and painful. I could feel-it was like I could feel their pain. I told him to stop, and he hurt them worse…there was this sound…like crumbling popcorn only louder…I could barely hear it over the screaming….” Ophelia covered her ears, as if she was hearing the screaming at that moment. “I begged him to stop,” She whined, “I-wanted-him-to-stop-hurting-them-and-I-begged-him-to-stop-He-said-‘As-you-wish’-and… and shot a ghost ray through their chests…they stopped screaming” She couldn’t stop the tears now. They trickled down her cheeks like a faucet that wasn’t closed all the way. “He dropped them to the ground like they were garbage. They were bent the wrong way, and the blood…He said that it’s what they get for being a Fenton. He said if I was a good little girl, I wouldn’t have to end up like them. I was screaming. I wanted him to let me go. I wanted my daddy then more than ever…and then I passed out. I think he shocked me.  I kind of remember hurting like I’ve been shocked, but it’s kind of hazy.”

“What happened when you woke up?”

“I woke up in a bed with a lot of pillows, I was practically buried alive with them. I knew instantly that I was in the Ghost Zone, even though there wasn’t any real windows to look out of.”

“How could you tell you were in the Ghost Zone?”  
  
“My hair was white. My hair always turns white when I’m in the Ghost Zone. That and the air is different there, it tastes kind of like there’s a lightning storm outside except not.”

She twined her fingers into her hair, further obstructing Vlad’s view of her face. She was tense, nervous, agitated, her body was trembling slightly. She looked like she wanted deeply to run away from the courtroom, run away just as Daniel had taught her to run away the moment she saw a shadow that was even vaguely Vlad-shaped. She wanted to run, but some force kept her seated to that chair, on that stand, so she can tell her side of the story.

“I was alone in that room. I didn’t se-I didn’t see or hear anyone, so I went looking through the hall outside. I thought-“ She breathed a joyless, nervous chuckle. “I thought if I went looking maybe I’d find my dad, or find a way out to where my dad would find me. I finally gave up and stopped when I got to this room at the very end of the hall, the only other door that was unlocked. I started crying and that’s when he came out…”

Ophelia swallowed down the air like it was a pill just barely small enough to fit down her delicate throat. She was beginning to look paler, here eyes looking like what remained when you tried to erase a green colored pencil from a sheet of paper.

“He was a man again. He tried to console me, like he was family rather than my kidnapper. I asked to see my dad, he said…he said he was my dad now. He said that he rescued me from my own family, that I was better off being raised by him…he said…he said ‘With me, you can be the princess all you little girls dream of.’

“I kept one asking for my dad, my real dad. I-just-wanted-to-go-home-but-he-kept-saying-that-place-was-my-home-now-He-said-my-grandparents-are-dead-that-my-parents-will-be-dead-soon-and-“

“Ophelia, Ophelia,” Fleming stopped her, “You’re talking too fast again, just slow down a little.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,”

Ophelia took another pause to breathe and then continued.

 “The man threatened to kill my parents, and when that happened I’ll have no one left to take care of me. No one else would understand me, no one else would want me. He was the only one who could love me and help me reach my full potential-“

Lomax raised a hand.

“I apologize, Your Honor, but I must ask for the witness to speak a little louder. I can only pick up every fifth word and I cannot properly defend my client unless I hear the full story along with him.”

Tight-lipped, Ophelia kept her eyes away from the Defense table. She continued louder and clearer than before.

“Then he said that my grandparents were bad people, that they made him into a monster, and they would’ve experimented on me when they had the chance.” She was once again becoming hard to hear, speaking too quiet and too fast. “Of-course-I-didn’t-believe-him-I-called-him-a-liar-I-called-him-I-called-him-crazy-that’s-when-he-“

Lomax spoke up again.

“Your Honor, she's mumbling again, I cannot understand her in the slightest. I believe that I speak for the court when I say that if she wants to give her testimony she needs to speak up.”

Finally, Ophelia cast her eyes towards Vlad’s side of the court, glaring vivid green daggers into Lomax.

“ _I said I called him crazy!”_ She shouted.

Ophelia’s eyes went wide with fear and she covered her mouth. For a split second, she looked at Vlad before looking away. That’s when Vlad realized that the court had suddenly gone still, anticipating what he might do. Even Lewis shied away from him, bracing for his inevitable violent reaction.

None came.

Judge Laurel banged her gavel, causing Ophelia to flinch.

“Ms. Manson-Fenton,” chided the judge, “I understand that this isn't exactly an easy story to tell, but that does not mean you get to act out in my courtroom.”

Ophelia looked away from the judge, embarrassed for being scolded.

“I'm sorry, Your Honor.” She mumbled.

Judge Laurel gave her a small but kind smile.

“It's alright, just please don't let that happen again. And he wasn't wrong, you do need to speak up and speak clearly.”

Ophelia nodded.

“What do you mean by that, Ophelia?”

Ophelia clutched her wrist, her sleeve sliding down to expose the pale-as-death skin. She inspected the underside of her wrist, tracing the bright blue vain that ran along it.

“He turned into a ghost again. He grabbed my hand and twisted it until I heard that crunching popcorn sound again. It hurt so bad. I screamed and he smiled at me. I was screaming and he was _smiling_ at my pain. He threw me across the room. I barely managed to turn myself intangible before I hit the wall. I tumbled on the floor of the next room. I barely got up before Plasmius blast me back down.

“’It appears I have arrived a little too late,’ he told me, ‘Your parents have already taught you how to be a horrible, naughty little girl. But there’s still hope for you, dear child. Perhaps I should teach you how to mind your manners’

“He grabbed my wrist again and shocked me. I screamed even louder than before. So loud, my throat was going raw.”

Ophelia clutched her wrist tighter, as if to reenact the injury inflicted on her long ago.

“’First lesson,’ he said when he finally stopped shocking me, ‘Never insult the sanity of your betters.’ He twisted my wrist again and I screamed again. ‘Second lesson: the next time someone offers you an opportunity better than an ungrateful brat like you deserves, you take it.’ He twisted my wrist again, I screamed again. ‘Third lesson,’ he said…’Father knows best’”

Ophelia’s knuckles turned whiter as she gripped her wrist even tighter. A tear rolled down her cheek, unattended and unnoticed by the distraught girl.

“He twisted my arm one last time before he threw me to the ground. I remember feeling so much pain, so much fear, but also so much anger. I looked up at him and told him ‘You are not my daddy! I hate you!’” She let go of her wrist and pressed her knuckles to her mouth. With a sob, she said, “I shouldn’t have done that.”

By now, Fleming was visibly shaken. She pretended not to be upset, to contain herself as a prosecutor should be able to do, but there was no way to mask the look of pure horror in her eyes, even if she willed herself not to shed tears.

“What happened next?” Fleming asked, somehow managed to keep her voice from trembling.

Ophelia, on the other hand, could not keep her voice from trembling, even when she took deep breaths before speaking again.

“He grabbed me by the throat,” she whimpered, “he lifted me by the neck so I could look him in the eye. I remember how scary those eyes looked to me. I never saw that much hatred focused on me before. I never saw anyone look so…unhinged.

“’Do you know what happens to little girls who refuse to behave?’ he asked me. He made the floor part open by his feet, and showed me this pit…” All color was gone from her now, even her eyes appeared to have turned white. Her breathing quickened, on the verge of hyperventilation. Fleming reached out over the podium to hold Ophelia’s hand.

“It’s okay,” Fleming whispered, just loud enough for everyone in the front of the courtroom could hear, “You’re not there anymore, you’re safe.”

Ophelia nodded, at the very least to confirm that she could hear Fleming.

“I couldn’t...I couldn’t see too well what was at the bottom of the pit, it was pretty deep. I only saw red from where he was holding me up. He told me…he told me they were blood blossoms, and they are extremely harmful to ghosts. He meant to use them on my dad, but he had me instead. He said, ‘Until you learn to behave, you will stay in there and let me see just how long a half ghost can survive direct physical contact.’ He gave me one more shock and then…” She let one sob escape before she held it back to speak. “Then he dropped me in…”

She lost all control then, crumbling down into tears and unintelligible sobbing. There were only a few words that Vlad could hear and understand. “Couldn’t…out…pain…burns…” She buried her face in her sleeves, ruining the cashmere with tears and mucus.

No one stopped her, no one spoke out to make her speak clearly. They let her cry. It appeared the whole courtroom was affected by poor girl’s story. There were tears, expressions of shock and terror, stoic expressions to hide their anger and disgust, and vacant stares of those who simply could not handle what they had heard. Vlad dared to look over to Daniel and Samantha. They were holding each other, holding back their tears. It was clear that they were trying their best to keep it together for their daughter’s sake, but they weren’t doing as well as they may have hoped. Was this the first time they are hearing her story?  The little princess loves to keep her secrets.

The only smile that Vlad could find in the entire room was tacked on to Spectra’s face, who somehow snuck her way inside during Ophelia’s testimony and was leaning against the doorway. Once again, Vlad found himself repulsed by the ghost woman’s cruel glee.

When Ophelia calmed down, Fleming asked her, “Do you remember anything else after you fell in?”

Ophelia shook her head.

“It’s all really hazy after that,” she said between the sniffles, “Outside the pain and the red, all I can recall is a lot of screaming. I think the loudest of it sounded like my dad. Next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital, and seeing my face in a mirror.” She touched her cheek, remembering the scars that had once marred the soft, smooth skin. There was a flicker in her eyes. Perhaps a thought came across her mind, perhaps she recalled something that she had let herself forget all these years. Perhaps she was reading a mind right now, amidst all the chaos and anguish inside her. Vlad couldn’t tell.

“That’s all I remember.” Ophelia said, not entirely truthful.

“Do you see the man that killed your grandparents here in this courtroom?” Fleming asked.

Ophelia’s eyes flicked up towards the ceiling. She nodded, slowly and solemnly.

“Can you please point him out?”

Ophelia nodded again. With as much enthusiasm as one would have to pulling out a rusted nail from their foot, she turned her head to look at Vlad. Her eyes changed. There was still fear there, but now also some boldness. She pointed at him with so much conviction Vlad assumed that she was imagining pointing a gun at him.

“That’s the man I saw turn into Plasmius, he’s the one that killed my grandparents and hurt me.”

“Let the record show that the witness has identified the defendant, Vladimir Masters, as her abductor and would-be killer. No further questioning.”

Vlad glared at her, wishing that his eyes could turn red at that very moment. The look seemed to be enough, as Ophelia broke eye contact and inched away.

“Can I go now?” she said with a pathetic little squeak.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Manson-Fenton,” said Judge Laurel, “But the Defense has to cross-examine you before you can be dismissed. Would you like to take a break first?”

Ophelia stopped for a moment. Her eyes quickly went from the jury box, to the gallery, to Vlad for one brief moment before returning to the judge.

“No, thank you,” she whispered, “I think I’d rather get this over with.”

Judge Laurel gave Ophelia a sympathetic smile and a nod. Judge Laurel turned towards the Defense table.

“You may proceed with your line of questioning.”

With great effort, Lomax rose from his seat. Slowly, he lumbered towards the witness stand and rested a hand on the edge for support.

“Hello, sweetheart,” Lomax said with the cheer and warmth of a doting grandfather. “Are you doing okay?”

“Not really, no,” Ophelia clipped.

“I suppose I can’t blame you. What you went through sounds horrific. Have you ever told anyone this story before today?”

Ophelia shook her head. Lomax nodded.

“I see. And you’ve never made a statement of the incident to the police?”

“No, I haven’t”

“And why is that?”

Ophelia turned to Judge Laurel.

“Do I have to answer that?” she asked, pleadingly.

“Yes, you do.”

Ophelia sighed.

“I never made a statement because I didn’t want to talk about it. Even thinking about that pit made me feel like I was burning. I thought that the police could-I thought they knew enough about what happened with the evidence they already had that they didn’t need me to fill in the blanks.”

“I see, so for the past ten years you never made a statement, never wrote it down, never said a single thing about that night for the past ten years and yet you were able to recall it in such detail-”

 “I’m sorry, but exactly what’s your question?”

“Well, simply, how do you remember it so well after such a long time?”

Ophelia’s cheeks burned.

“I just do,” she said defensively.

“That can’t be true, you have to have some way you remember it. My grandkids can’t remember their last birthday and we’re supposed to believe you remember one night ten years ago without any aid?”  
  
“I’m not your grandkids, and I remember it just fine.”

“Do you know that most children around the age of four aren’t able to process coherent memories? Studies found that children at such a young age are only able to focus on small details.”

“So? That doesn’t change what happened to me or my memory of it. I can’t speak for other kids but I can speak for myself.”

 “That’s very insightful of you,” Lomax responded. Ophelia’s eyes went wide for a moment and then she calmed. Vlad’s mouth twitched a momentary smile. Such a jumpy child.

 Lomax continued, “Did you know anything about my client prior to the night of the attack?”

Ophelia shook her head.   
  
“Nobody ever told me about him. I assumed me, my dad and my clone sister were the only half ghosts to exist.”

“And you learned more about him after the fact. How did that come about?”

Ophelia shrugged.

“Google”

There was some laughter from the gallery and three of the jurors. Lomax seemed neither amused nor displeased by the response.

“How many times have you seen pictures of my client, in either forms, after your attack?”

“I don’t exactly know, but I didn’t want to look at pictures. I can’t see his face, either faces, without remembering the sheer hatred in his eyes when he tortured my grandparents and when he threw me into the blood blossoms.”

“I suppose you wouldn’t, but you saw pictures of him than you have seen him in person, is that correct?”

“I suppose that’s true, logically speaking.”

“So is there a chance that you may have confused those pictures with the face of your attacker?”

Ophelia’s eyes flashed, harsh and bright despite her wearing an inhibitor.   
  
“Never!” she snarled, indignant.

“How are you so sure that your memory is so accurate and incorruptible?”

She retreated, nervous. Her head twisted a little in Vlad’s direction, but she jerked away. She couldn’t make herself look at him unless she had to.   
  
“I am sure.”

“Yes, but how?”

“I just am,” she said, with the grunted mumbling of a stubborn child who was becoming shamefully aware that she was losing an argument.

Lomax turned to Judge Laurel.

“Your Honor, she is refusing to answer my questions, may I have permission to treat her as hostile?”

Reluctantly, the judge gave him permission. Lomax turned back to Ophelia, who was sinking deeper into her seat as she prepared for the worst.

 “How are you so sure you didn’t confuse an old nightmare of yours with what really happened?”

“I didn’t”

“How do you know you didn’t make up the story at one point after hearing your father tell his side.”

“I didn’t make it up.”

“How do you know that? How are you so sure that you have remembered everything about that night?”

Ophelia was quiet. She didn’t answer anymore of Lomax’s questions, she didn’t make any sign of hearing him at all. She had sunken so far down into her chair that she was out of view of most of the courtroom.

 “Ms. Manson-Fenton,” said Judge Laurel, “Ophelia, dear, you need to answer all of Lomax’s questions.”

“Please,” Whimpered a voice from the witness stand, “I can’t,”

“I’m sorry, dear you have to. If you don’t, I’ll have no choice but to hold you in contempt of court and you will be remanded until you comply.”

 _You can’t hide,_ Vlad thought, directed towards her. _You can’t turn invisible and you can’t run away. Tell them the truth, little princess._

“Fine!” cried the witness stand

Suddenly, Ophelia shot back up in her seat. Her eyes were a blinding green, making it almost impossible to see the tears that were freely streaming down her cheeks.

 “You want to know why I remember that night so well?” She shouted, “It’s because I never had a chance to forget. Everywhere I go, everything I do, I get a reminder of that night. I see a Christmas tree, and suddenly I start smelling pine needles and blood and charred flesh. I am afraid to go to sleep at night because I know as soon as I close my eyes I will see my grandparents on the floor, twisted and broken, or I see him,” She pointed to Vlad with such force Vlad thought she would dislocate her shoulder. “Breaking my arm and shocking me. And every time…And every time I would see my reflection, see those horrible scars on my face, feel that awful prickle in my skin anytime someone so much as brushed their fingers on my arm, I’m back in that pit, tied down by the blood blossoms, utterly helpless while they burrow into me. I remember that night because it was pure pain, an unending agony that was branded into every last cell of my body. I don’t know how many other, beautiful, happy memories I have lost because my mind cannot let go of that night. Even if I live to see the death of our sun, and all of my other memories are gone, I will still remember that night down to the last horrific, insidious detail. So no, I did not confuse it with a dream, I did not make this up, nobody told me this story and made me pass it off as the truth, _it is the truth_!”

Ophelia turned back to the judge. “Can I _please_ go now?”

Judge Laurel looked over to Lomax, who responded with a wave of his hand and a mumbled “the Defense rests” as he shuffled back to his seat.

“Yes, dear, you are excused.” Said Judge Laurel, with a sympathetic smile on her face.

Ophelia wasted no time. She all but leapt from the stand and raced to the gallery where Daniel and Samantha were waiting for her in the aisle. Ophelia ran straight into her mother’s arms, just as she had done that day in the cemetery, and the two cried without shame. Daniel joined in on the hug, whispering assurances to her. Vlad watched all this, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

_Good girl_

* * *

The time came for both sides to give their closing arguments. Like in the beginning, Fleming went first, at the near insistence of the Defense. She was doing well, briefly summarizing every last piece of evidence that she had presented to the jury. She was doing well, even Vlad had to acknowledge this. She had tact, she had conviction, and she had confidence.

“As you have seen from the forensic evidence, from eye-witness testimonies, there is only one cause of this horrible tragedy. Vlad ‘Plasmius’ Masters invaded the home of Jack and Madeline Fenton on Christmas Eve. He attacked them, tortured them, and killed them all in front of their granddaughter Ophelia. That same granddaughter he abducted, snatched away into the Ghost Zone, under the delusion that he could raise her like she was his own child, just as he had hoped to do with her father years ago. When the poor, scared little girl refused to play along with his delusions, wanting nothing more than to be back in the arms of her true parents, Masters lashed out. He broke her arm, choked her, shocked her, and finally threw down into a pit of blood blossoms to suffer a slow, agonizing death. Had Danny Phantom not rescued her or came to the scene a minute sooner, that little girl would not be here today. Vlad Masters has done many horrible things in his life, but this by far is the worst. He is a monster, a term which I do not use lightly, especially not in a court of law. He has shown no remorse in the murders of those who were once his best friends or even in the attempted murder of their four-year-old child. In fact, he has shown himself more than willing to finish what he had started, having been apprehended while making attempts at the lives of Danny and Ophelia Fenton.

“It is your duty, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, to find this man guilty of the crimes he has committed, and to give justice to the family to whom he has brought so much suffering to.”

Fleming returned to her seat, making no other sound but the clicking of pumps that she had no comprehension of how to walk gracefully in and were not tall enough to keep the hem of her pants from dragging on the ground.

Vlad relaxed a little, no longer needing to keep his temper. His counsel seemed to be lowering their guard as well. Has he truly been that belligerent? How much of his tact has he lost from all these years disconnected from society? Perhaps he should work on that.

Lomax took one quick look over his notes before he got up for his final argument. Originally, Lewis was meant to give the closing argument, he had even asked for it before the trial began. Since Daniel’s testimony, however, Lewis had lost some of his eagerness. He was now sitting on the opposite side of the table from Vlad, scribbling notes onto a legal pad or at least was pretending so he won’t have to look at his client. That natural smile of his was almost completely gone now, all that was left was a crease and tuck at the corners of his mouth.

 “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” Lomax began, “For weeks, you have been presented with evidence and told a story about the tragedy that had befallen a family on Christmas Eve ten years ago. You were told that, based on the evidence you were given, that no one else could be responsible for this incident other than my client. But that is all it is, a story. My associate and I have proven in this court that the People’s evidence isn’t as strong as they would have you believe. All that they can prove that there were murders that night in Fenton Works, the survivor was in critical condition due to immersive exposure to a harmful plant, and that at least one of the factors was caused by someone with ghostly powers. Here’s another story that is equally plausible with what we know about that night: Jack and Maddie spent the rest of the night working on recent experiments while their son and daughter-in-law investigate my client’s estate in Colorado. One such experiment was on a sample of blood blossoms they kept in secret, even from their own son. So wrapped up in their work, they didn’t notice their granddaughter wander into the lab. Some sort of mishap occurs and their experimental sample of blood blossoms attaches to young Ophelia and encases her instantly. They panic and try to pull her out of the thorny grasp of the plant, grabbing any part of her that they could get a good hold on. In his weakened state, she becomes more prone to injury, so their attempts to save her causes her wrist to break and the bruises on her neck.  

“While this happens, Danny is on his way to Colorado, slowly becoming worried for his parents and daughter. He heads back to Amity Park and leaves behind a duplicate before anyone notices. He comes to the house, and no one answers. He goes in, no one is on the main floor or upstairs. He goes downstairs into the lab, and he finds his parents digging through this knotted mass of blood blossoms. It may have taken him a while, but he sees the flare from Maddie’s goggles under the vines, or a swatch of Ophelia’s pajamas, or sees a tiny hand reaching out from the entanglement. He gets taken back, back to the early days of Danny Phantom. His parents wanting to destroy him, wanting to experiment on him like he was an animal, no, worse than an animal because ‘ghosts can’t feel pain’. A dread that stuck with him into his adult life, buried in the back of his mind while he tried to trust his parents to perform medical procedures for him that only they could do. He swore to himself that he would make sure his daughter would never know those fears, but there she is living it. He becomes angry, angrier than he ever thought he could feel, and anger that he didn’t know he had kept inside this whole time. He was blinded by rage, and the next thing he knows his parents are lying on the floor, a ghost ray through their hearts.”

The room was silent, there wasn’t even a faint sound of breathing. There were a myriad of different expressions in the myriad of faces in the gallery, though Vlad’s favorite by far was the utter shock and outrage on Daniel’s face. What was the boy so shocked about? He had to have seen this coming.

“After he gets Ophelia out of the blood blossoms,” Lomax continued, “He goes into a panic. Who would believe him if he told them he was protecting his daughter from her own grandparents? What kind of monster would kill his own parents? Every good deed he has ever done would be undone in an instant, and he would be seen as a monster, just as you see my client. What else could Danny do was to cover up the crime. He destroyed the blood blossom samples, hides Ophelia in the Ghost Zone, moved the bodies to the living room and staged the scene to look like there had been a fight, and came up with this horrific story to blame my client for Jack and Maddie’s deaths. He at least got his wife in on this plan. He could have gotten Mr. Foley and Captain Gray in on it as well, or they were just as much fooled as the rest of us. Ophelia, too traumatized from the pain of the blood blossoms, was given a story by her own father about what happened that night, one that she should tell the grown ups if they ever asked her what happened. It was horrific story, nightmarish even, but it was much easier for her to believe that some monster would come in the middle of the night to hurt her than her own grandparents. So she told the story to whoever needed to hear it, and it became so engrained into her mind that it replaced her fading, true memories of that night and became real.   
  
“So, based on the evidence we are given, and the level of credibility of our given evidence, we are given two possible events that led to the grisly death of Jack and Maddie Fenton and the unique condition of Ophelia Fenton. Who is to say which story is true or which is not? We can’t go back to Fenton Works and check the crime scene for new evidence, that house had been rather _conveniently_ demolished moments after Daniel supposedly rescued Ophelia from my client. One of the key forensic evidence we have was collected by a device that was later proven to be faulty. There are only two witnesses we have to either crime is someone who is a sworn enemy of my client and their young, traumatized, impressionable child. The other key witnesses are loyal to the surviving Fentons and also bear personal grudges to my client.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have been sitting in that box for weeks with the sole duty of deciding whether my client, Vladimir ‘Plasmius’ Masters, is guilty of the crime of murder and attempted murder based on the facts of the case. Can you truly say that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, when the information you are given has so much room for interpretation? Would you do the same for any other man, any other ghost? I only ask that when you go into that room and make your verdict, you make it out of logic and reason, not of emotions and prejudice. Everyone deserves a fair and unbiased trials, even Vlad Plasmius.”

* * *

Deliberation took two days. Vlad thought the time was adequate enough. He never expected them to take too long nor did he expect to reach their verdict within an hour. Just as there was the first day, and the day the boy testified, the court was overpacked with people anxious to hear the verdict, though this time there were more members of the media than there were of the common bystander. The outside of the courthouse was crowded too, perhaps more than the first day, with people ready to praise the American justice system or to condemn it. Daniel’s little gang were all there in their usual seat. To Vlad’s partial surprise and delight, Ophelia was there as well, huddled between her parents and gripping the edge of her seat with white knuckles. She was dressed in all black, as if she was going to a funeral rather than observing the conclusion of a trial, and the style of her dress gave a further impression that the funeral was for a porcelain doll. _Shouldn’t she be in school right now?_ Vlad asked himself, _Ah, yes, right, the ice incident. She must still be suspended._

By far, she was the least uncomfortable being there, barely containing her anxieties, fixing her vision to some blank space so her mind could take her elsewhere. Jasmine reached over her brother and touched Ophelia’s shoulder. Slowly, Ophelia responded to the touch and gave Jasmine a forced smile. 

In the row behind them sat the former ghost nanny and her spouse. Both ghosts were anxious and concerned, but the nanny was much more open about it than the spouse. Neither of the nanny’s friends were present in the courtroom, not even Spectra. Vlad was glad for that, the court security must have tightened up after he had Lomax had sent them his concerns over the type of people coming into the gallery.

The click of the jury room door seemed louder than it had been before. The whole room snapped to attention as the jurors filed into their box for the final time. They looked haggard, distressed, some even looked shell-shocked. The presiding juror, an old man who looked a great deal older than when the trial began, handed the bailiff a folded slip of paper. The bailiff handed the slip of paper to Judge Laurel, which she took with some hesitancy. Slowly, she unfolded the slip and read the verdict. Her face was almost neutral, an expression she may have used in all the other cases she may have presided in, but there was something there. It was subtle, enough to almost be called a twitch or a tic, but it was there. Vlad saw it, and he was certain Daniel saw it, too. Perhaps other people in the gallery as well, there was a lot more attention from the majority than there had been on others days. Judge Laurel refolded the paper and handed it back to the bailiff, who handed it back to the foreman.

“Has the jury reached a verdict?” Judge Laurel said, fiddling with her gavel.

“Yes, we have, Your Honor,” said the foreman with a voice as tired as his features.

“On the count of Murder in the First Degree, how do you find the defendant?”

“We the People find the Defendant, Vladimir ‘Plasmius’ Masters, not guilty.”     

Cries of outrage surged through the gallery, muffling the sound of the shutters that had until then dominated the room. Judge Laurel banged her gavel and gave a stern look towards the crowd. Solemnly, she turned her attention back to the jury box.

“On the count of Murder in the Second Degree, how do you find the defendant?”

“We find the Defendant not guilty.”

“On the count of Kidnapping of a Minor, how do you find the defendant?”

“We find the Defendant not guilty.”

“On the count of Aggravated Assault of a Minor, how do you find the defendant?”

“We find the Defendant not guilty.”

“On the count of Attempted Murder, how do you find the defendant?”

“We find the defendant not guilty.”  
  
“Thank you, jurors, for your service and your time.” Judge Laurel turned to Vlad. Joyless and lifelessly, she told him. “Vladimir Masters, as found by a jury of your peers you are acquitted of the aforementioned charges. However, as you are convicted of other crimes, you will stay in remand to await sentencing for those charges. Nothing shall be added to your list of convictions.”

Barely over a mumble, the judge added. “This court is adjourned.” And banged the gavel one last time.

* * *

“You are free to speak, now.”

Lewis looked to Vlad, taking a while to focus on him. “Excuse me?” he said, somewhat absent-mindedly.

Like most of the courtroom, Lewis appeared to be in a state of shock. His was drowned somewhere deep in his thoughts. Lomax had to practically herd him out of the courtroom.

“I could tell that you haven’t been thinking the best of me,” Vlad said plainly, “And I admire your professionalism for not letting that get in the way of representing me fairly. The trial is over now. You are no longer obligated to keep your opinions to yourself. If you have something you wish to say to me, feel free to say it.”

It took Lewis a while to understand what was asked of him. As soon as it sunk in, he appeared to be more grounded to reality. His face contorted from a distraught expression to one of disgust. The last hint of his natural smile was gone, and it most likely won’t be seen again for a long time.

“You did it, didn’t you?” his accusation tone was vehement and icy.

“You really have to ask?” was Vlad’s flat reply.

Instead of being taken aback, Lewis became even more infuriated.

“You really are a monster, I can’t believe I ever signed onto this case.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Lewis, and don’t act like you’re any better than me. If you really were so deeply reviled by me, you could’ve excused yourself from the case at any time and left Lomax to handle it by himself. You chose to stay, you wanted to represent me and further your career with my acquittal.” Lewis was about the protest but Vlad held up a hand to cut him off, “Deny all you want, but there is no point in lying to yourself. You did not choose to become a defense attorney to save the falsely accused from undeserved punishment, you chose this field for the money and the notoriety, and you have certainly got it. The sooner you learn to take the grit along with the glamour, the further you’ll get in your career. But as you find me so vile, I guess Lomax will have to represent me in my sentencing alone.”

And with that, Vlad turned his attention away from Lewis and gave it to the various reporters that had begun to swarm him. It had been years since he spoke to any member of them, let alone a horde of them, but that did not mean that he had forgotten how to use his old charm and flourish. 

“I understand that today’s verdict came as a shock to most of you,” he said, dusting off that politician voice, “I’ll admit that even I was a little surprise. Nonetheless, I am grateful that the jury could see the case beyond my own reputation and analyzed it as if it were any other case. I believe today reflected our society as a whole, of what we are willing to believe and how we choose based on what we are told. I will take my punishment for my crimes knowing that I have done the service of providing you with that mirror.”

Behind the flashing lights and prodding microphones, Vlad could see them leaving the courtroom and stopping at the door. Each of Daniel’s little group were in varying degrees of shock, Valerie being more enraged than distraught and Jasmine’s eyes already welling up with tears. Daniel had a hand on Ophelia’s shoulder while he and Samantha were cooing reassuring but ultimately ineffective words to her. Ophelia appeared to be heading towards a state of catatonia, eyes looking at nothing and face expressing no emotion.

“Hold that thought,” he said to no one in particular. He forced his way through the swarm of reporters until he was at the door with the group. Without saying a word, without giving them any time to react, Vlad pulled Daniel and Ophelia away from the rest of the group and brought them to the cameras.

“I want everyone to see me personally give my sympathies to my fellow hybrids for what had happened to them that night. Whatever truly happened ten years ago, we may never know, but it does not make it any less of a tragedy. These two deserve our compassion and understanding just like anyone else that has suffered a great loss.” Vlad knelt down to Ophelia’s eye level. He grasped her hands into his, immediately getting some resistance on her end. “Ophelia, my dear, I am truly sorry for what happened to you that night. No child should go through what you had. I hope you understand why I had to make you open those wounds. It is for the best, for all of us.”

Vlad stood back up again and forcefully turned Ophelia towards the cameras. The hand he wasn’t using to hold Ophelia in place snaked around Daniel and pulled him closer to Vlad.

“How about a few pictures of the three of us together before I have to go back to prison, eh gentlemen?”

There may have been a dead silence, but there was an abundance of camera flares to compensate.

“Why are you doing this, Vlad?” Daniel growled, “We both know what happened that night, what do you have to gain in putting us all through this?”

“This wasn’t for my benefit, Daniel,” Vlad said through his charming smile, “It was for hers. And you too, I suppose.”

“How in your sick, twisted mind do you think this helps us?”

“By teaching you a lesson, of course. Human kind isn’t worth your time. You spent over twenty years risking your life to save theirs and when you needed them they turned on you. They are just as willing to believe that you are capable of murdering your own parents as they are that I did it. We are all the same in their eyes: monsters that must be put on a leash or put down. This was the only way for you two to learn, so she doesn’t make the same mistakes we did.”

Vlad looked down to Ophelia. She was staring blankly out into the cameras, completely succumbed to her shock. The only signs that she was responsive at all to what was going on around her were her eyes flicking through the flashing lights and the single tear trickling down her cheek. It was a heartbreaking sight, even Vlad had to admit, but it must be done. Maybe the next time he offered his aid, they will make the right choice.


	28. The Unknown Tragedy of Courtney Sinclair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ophelia returns to school.

Ophelia turned up her headphones as her mother’s shouting got louder. Despite the numerous phone calls and emails Mom had made in the past week, there were still “complications” with readmitting Ophelia back into her classes. Luckily, Mom saw this coming and drove her and Ophelia to Casper High a full hour before the first period. Despite the embarrassment of having her mother tear her principal a new one, Ophelia was grateful that it was too early for anyone to be around to hear it.

Still, Ophelia couldn't shake off the feeling of dread creeping in. The verdict was only a week ago and it was still the hot topic all over the country, let alone in Amity Park. None of her family could leave the house without being harassed by reporters or the stray moron that accused her father of murder. She didn't go online because all she would see was some post or article related to the trial, or a hundred comments and messages from hundreds of people she didn't know and maybe ten or so she did.

Worst of all was the pity.

That she dreaded most of all about coming back to school. Everyone knew what happened to her now, and that was all they would be thinking of when they saw. The whole school will be staring at her, seeing the girl who freaked out on the witness stand, the girl whose father may or may not have killed his own parents and gaslighted her into believing his cover story, the girl who was damaged beyond repair. Those feelings will overwhelm her, just as the feelings of everyone in the courthouse had drowned her.

And of course, someone will want to talk about it, which was even worse than the silent sympathy.

Ophelia wished she could disappear from the universe and go somewhere where she wouldn't have to be reminded of that trial every other minute. But since that wasn't scientifically feasible and Aunt Jazz thought locking yourself in your room was an unhealthy way to address your problems, Ophelia was stuck dealing with the outside world.

Her mother came out around the time students were beginning to fill the hallways. She had the look of victory she'd sometimes get when she won cases.

“I talked with your principal,” mom said, “you should be all set with your classes and there will be no marks to your record about the pool incident.”

“What about Track,” Ophelia asked flatly, “Am I still on the team? I won't even bother to ask if I'm still co-captain.”

“You'll have to do a second try-out to determine whether or not you're still fit to be on the team, but you should be fine. Though yeah, I don't think Coach Baxter is going to keep you as co-captain.”

“I bet he's got some impossible course set for me, he doesn't like me much.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He told me. Last time I was at practice he said, ‘You're a pain in my ass, Fenton, but you and Adler are the top runners in your grade so I can't get rid of you.’ Granted, I did just talk back to him for making us do ten rounds of suicides.”

Mom smiled, but not for long. She must have picked up on Ophelia's dour mood. She knelt down to Ophelia’s eye level and rested her hands on her shoulders.

“Look, I know you don't want to go back to school so soon after…well, after the verdict. But locking yourself in your room for the rest of the year isn't going to help you get past it.”

Ophelia shrugged her mother’s hands off her shoulders. She turned away, curling into herself.

“I'm fine,” she muttered.

“Come on, we both know that's not true. I would be more concerned if you _weren't_ taking this hard.”

“Don't worry about it, Mom. I'm peachy keen.”

“Okay, now I know you're lying.”

Ophelia groaned.

“What difference does it make whether or not I'm okay? Vlad’s going to jail so who cares if he literally got away with murder?”

Her mother casted her eyes to the ground. She flicked her eyes up to Ophelia, giving that reassuring look that she had come to master in the past years.

“I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but this may be a good thing for you. You got to tell your story. People know what kind of monster Plasmius truly is. Not many victims get a chance to testify, and fewer still are brave enough to tell it.”

“Or have a pushy enough mother to pressure her into it.” Ophelia grumbled. Her mother wasn’t all too happy to hear that.

“Okay, I get it. I shouldn’t have pushed you into it, but I’m not wrong about it being good for you. I told you numerous times of all the cases I’ve seen where the victims refuse to testify and regretted it for the rest of their lives. I didn’t want that for you.”

“Sure, and this is _way_ better.” Ophelia snipped.

Before her mother could say anything more, the bell rang for first period. Ophelia got onto her feet and slung her bag over her shoulder.

“I’ve got to get to class,” Ophelia said, eyes to the floor. She turned to the direction of her homeroom. “I’ll see you at home.”

 She stopped after two steps, let out something between a sigh and a groan, then turned around to give her mother a hug.

“I love you, okay? I promise I’ll be fine.”

Her mother hugged her back and gave a peck on her forehead before letting her go.

“Don’t forget, Aunt Jazz is picking you up today. Make sure to text her when you’re out.”

“Okay, Mom.”

* * *

The air was cold, enough to mist a breath. It had yet to snow, but the grass of the cemetery was covered in a layer of frost in place of morning dew. Danny and Jazz had finished cleaning up their parents’ graves before placing fresh bouquets on each of their headstones.

“How long has it been since you visited them?” Jazz asked.

“We all came by when we moved back into town,” Danny said, “but not much since then. I’ve managed to come by myself once or twice. You know, to make sure everything’s clean.”

“I try to make sure to come at least twice a year. I know it’s only the bones here, but it’s nice having something direct your feelings towards.”

“I’d rather direct my feelings towards a consciousness, but that’s never going to happen. Though I guess it’s for the better. I wouldn’t want them to see how we failed them. How I failed my daughter.”

“Danny, don’t say that. You didn’t fail anyone.”

“The headstones in front of us beg to differ. Vlad got away with their murders, blamed them for what happened to Ophelia, and made people think that I _killed_ my own parents.”

“Nobody believes that. You didn’t kill them. No matter what story those lawyers spin, Vlad is the one to blame for all of this.” Jazz put her hand on Danny’s shoulder and added. “Don’t forget, Ophelia wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for you.”

“That’s true, but-“

“No buts,” Jazz grabbed both his shoulders, making sure that he was square with her. “I’m not going to let you go back into that spiral of guilt and self-loathing you had fourteen years ago.  You are a hero, Danny, you have done more good in the past couple of decades than anyone has ever done in their lifetimes. You should be proud of that, I am.” Jazz looked over to the headstones. “Mom and Dad would be, too.”

  Those words hit him hard. It brought him back to that day in the cornfield, before he erased their memories. To the day of Phantom Planet, where they learned the truth, where everyone learned the truth. It brought him back to every milestone in his life from that point forward. All those moments when his parents were there, telling him how proud they were, how much they loved him.

It brought him to that night before Christmas, the last time they ever told him how much they loved him…

He didn’t feel himself crumble to the ground, only his sister’s arms wrapped around him. He felt the tears warm his cheeks and lump swelling in his throat.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Jazz murmured, “it’s all okay, just let it out.”

* * *

Before her “sick leave”, most of the school was intimidated by her, or at the very least afraid of getting caught in the crossfire of a ghost fight. She couldn’t blame them, there has been a lot of trouble since she came to Casper High.

When she came into class today, her classmates’ distancing was different. It wasn’t out of any fear or disgust, luckily. From what she could gather from reading them, it was more of an awkward respect for her privacy. They didn’t want to say anything to her in case of potentially upsetting her or trigger an episode. Ophelia couldn’t blame them for this, either. Her little episode at the Nasty Burger was common knowledge in school, making what happened to the still out of use pool old news.

Em was even keeping her distance from Ophelia in homeroom. Ophelia was shying around Em, too. After what came out about their moms, both girls were too afraid to bring it up. Ophelia knew she had the most to apologize for, however. Thanks to Mom’s testimony, Em’s dad was put on suspension and at risk of losing his job altogether.

Coach Baxter let her skip P.E., partly out of sympathy for her situation, partly out of fear of her destroying his precious gym even further. She wasn’t complaining, she’d still have to do her second tryout after school.

Luckily, this was Owen’s free period.

Ophelia found him in the library, scribbling doodles into his study notes. She smiled. She felt a small burn in her cheeks before she turned invisible and wandered over to his table. He was lost in his daydreams and scribbles, so lost that he did not notice that she was constructing a fort around him out of his books. He did eventually notice that his notebook was cast in shadow.

“Huh?”

Ophelia held back a giggle.

“Sidney, if that’s you, you’re not going to make me talk-“

Ophelia plopped onto Owen’s lap and wrapped her arms around him.

“Does Sidney do this?” she whispered before covering his mouth with hers.

She felt his shock before his joy surged in. He pictured her face as she kissed him, how sweet. She chose to ignore the worry, the images of texts that were deleted as fast as they were drafted, and the memories of her distraught face on the news.

She made herself visible as she pulled away. He smiled when he saw her face, and he hugged her tightly.

“You’re back!” Owen said excitedly before he began to stammer, “I mean, I knew you were coming back today, but I mean it’s still awesome to see you! Wait, don’t you have gym this period?”

“Baxter gave me this period off,” She replied, “He doesn’t want me to destroy his gym.”

“Either way, I’m so glad to see you. Things have been boring without you.”

“Hey! You two!”

Both jumped at the sound of the librarian’s voice.

“No PDA on school grounds!”

Owen’s face went red. He scrambled to help Ophelia off his lap and onto the chair nearest to him.

“Yes ma’am, sorry ma’am, won’t happen again.” He stammered.

Ophelia couldn’t help but laugh at his discomfort. Somehow Owen became redder with bashfulness. When the librarian had sufficiently shushed them and wandered to find the next offender of the silence, Ophelia scooted her chair closer to Owen’s and wrangled his arm back around her shoulder.

“You’ve been settling back into your classes alright?” Owen asked.

“They’ve been…awkward…I can’t find a better word than ‘awkward’. It’s better than being stuck in the house, I guess.”

“Well, yeah, it’s been a while since they’ve seen you. You’ve kind of been a big deal around here since…” He cut himself off. Ophelia felt Owen’s worry. She forced half a smile and spared him from finishing his sentence.

“Yeah, I know.”

She could see his guilt for bringing it up. He wasn’t sure what to say that wouldn’t upset her.

“Don’t worry,” he said with awkward uncertainty. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I’m sure a lot of people have been asking you questions over the past few days.”

Somehow, even that gave Ophelia a feeling of bitterness that made her entire body tense up. She kept her fake half smile and nodded.

“Thanks,” she mumbled. A small trail of vapor slipped from her lips.

“Ophelia?”

Both Ophelia and Owen looked across the table to see Trix standing between bookshelves. She carried a small stack of books which she immediately dropped to zip over and squeeze the life out of Ophelia.

“You’re back!” Trix exclaimed excitedly. “It’s so good to see you. How are you holding up? What a stupid question to ask, you must be doing horribly. I was in the courthouse every day, listen to every horrible thing-“

“Ms. Weisz!”

The librarian stormed her way to the table, only stopped to pick up the books Trix carelessly dropped.

“You know the rules of the library,” she chided to Trix, “And I’d appreciate it if you took better care of the books.”

“Sorry, Ma’am,” Trix said, somewhat dismissively. The librarian set the discarded books on the opposite end of the table and gave them a cold look before leaving them.

“It’s nice to see you too, Trix,” Ophelia said, “And yes, I am fine, thank you. I appreciate your concern but no need to go into hysterics.”

Trix blushed and gave Ophelia a hug.

“I’m sorry, but what I saw at the courthouse made me worried about you. That and the Poindexter kid always asking me how you are doing.”

“You too?” Owen asked.

“Yeah, but I think he’s like that with all the kids who’s been through stuff. You think with all that concern he’d be a counselor or something.”

“Maybe I should talk to Sidney,” said Ophelia, “I have a feeling that he’ll get the whole student body on my case if I don’t see something.”

“I’ll help you,” Owen said as he put his arm around her shoulder, “I know where he hangs out during lunch.”

“Aww, you don’t have to, I’m sure I can track him down.”

“I know, but I want to, I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

“Liar, your room is right next to mine.”

“Alright, I haven’t shared air with you in weeks.”

“Oh, you’re so clingy.” She wrapped her arms back around his torso and nuzzled on his shoulder. “It’s cute.”

“Aww, you two are so adorable!” Trix chirped a little too loudly. Not a moment sooner, the librarian reared her head.

“That’s it, you three out!” The librarian pointed her finger to the exit. “I don’t want to see either of you in here for the rest of the day.”

Face flushed, Owen started packing up his things as he nervously mumbled apologies to the librarian. Trix pouted as she slipped her other backpack strap through her shoulder. Ophelia rolled her eyes and shot up from her seat, waiting for Owen to finish packing his stuff, grumbling her own, less sincere apologies in the librarian’s general direction.

* * *

“Poindexter!”

Ophelia was able to track down Poindexter’s psyche to the school’s basement. Not many of the living kids ever went down there, particularly the freshmen like her. The upperclassman would spread rumors of a former teacher who would murder their students and leave their dismembered bodies in the basement. Ophelia knew that it was total bull, though it was hard to ignore the faint odor of spoiled meat.     

“Sidney, I need to talk to you, I know you’re here.”

There was a faint blur of grey light between boxes of old textbooks. Another second, the grey blur bounced in front of her and took the form of Sidney Poindexter.

“Ophelia Fenton?” Poindexter said, a mix of confusion and relief. “When have you been back?”

“I started today,” Ophelia said, “Look, I know you’ve been asking my friends how I’ve been doing. If you want to see if I’m okay, you can just ask.”

Bashful, Poindexter muttered, “You weren’t here, and I thought it would be weird to come to your house and ask.”

“And you’re scared of my dad.” She didn’t need insight to know that.

“’Scared’ is a pretty strong word-“

“And accurate.”

“Not _that_ accurate. I’ve known your dad since he just started building his reputation in the Ghost Zone. He had nowhere near as good a handle on his powers at your age as you do. It’s hard to see someone as a Superman when you saw him growing up as Clark Kent.”

“Wait, wasn’t Clark Kent the persona he made up when he started out as a superhero?”

Poindexter rolled his eyes.

“Of course, I shouldn’t expect a girl to know anything about comic books.”

“Hey, watch it! This ain’t the fifties anymore, just because I don’t know about your mainstream garbage doesn’t mean you get to bash my gender.”

She threw in a flash of her eyes as a warning, which was enough to make Poindexter back up and put his hands up in surrender.

“Alright, gee whiz, I’m sorry.” He paused and added, “You know, you really are your mother’s daughter.”

“I get that a lot.” She took a breath. “I came here so you would see that I’m fine and stop sending people to check on me. I’m fine, don’t send people to check on me.” She turned on the heel of her boot and waved behind her. “Catch you later.”

“Wait!”

Ophelia made about five paces before Poindexter zipped in front of her.

“Since you’re down here…can I get your help on something?”

“If it involves a ‘feminine touch’, you’re better off asking my friend Abi.”

“No, no, not that, it’s…I’m not sure how to explain. So, I’ve seen that you’re pretty intuitive with people. There’s this one senior who’s been acting…different…the past few months. I don’t mean moody teenager different, either. I mean something really bad happened to her different.”

“I don’t think it’s my place to interfere with someone else’s issues. They’re not even in my grade, I probably don’t even know this kid.”

“Her name is Courtney Sinclair.”

“Hard pass.”

“Wait, why not? Do you know her?”

Ophelia rolled her eyes.

“Not personally, per se, but we did date the same guy…at the same time.” She shrugged and walked through Poindexter. “It’s not her fault, but I don’t think I can be a hundred percent unbiased on this. Why don’t you ask the guidance counselor? You know, the person who’s actually trained and paid to talk to kids about their problems?”

“I don’t trust those shrinks, they didn’t help me when I was being bullied, and your father didn’t get any help at your age.”

“Times have changed, people actually give a damn when kids get picked on. I’ve got my own problems to work on, and I assure you whatever Courtney’s going through is way above my paygrade.”

“Just talk to her. If you don’t think you can handle it, you can tell the counselor.”

Ophelia stared Poindexter down for a moment. He seems really concerned for Courtney. What could he be worried about? It couldn’t be as bad as watching your tormentor get away with murder.

With a roll of her eyes, Ophelia replied. “Fine, I’ll go see her. And once I do, you’ll have to drop it, okay?”

Sidney smiled.

“Thank you, you don’t know what this means to me.”

She knew exactly what it meant to him, but hid with a shrug and a grumbled, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just don’t bother me anymore.”

* * *

Danny found Sam in the kitchen, unloading the last of the groceries and tucking away the tote bags in their designated cabinet. She was deep in her own thoughts. She didn’t even show any notice of Danny’s presence until he called her name.

“Oh, hey,” Sam mumbled in response.

“How was your talk with the principle and Dash?”

“They put up the usual wall of b.s. to excuse themselves for keeping Ophelia out of school, but it wasn’t too hard to knock down. She’ll have to make up a few tests and do a second tryout to stay on the track team, but other than that it’ll be like she was never out. At least, on paper it will be like that.”

“That’s good I guess…” Danny couldn’t think of anything to say. All he saw was the troubled look on his wife’s face. “Are you doing alright?”

Sam looked at him before staring down at her hands, curled up against the cold granite countertop.

“Do you think I did the right thing making Ophelia testify?”

Danny felt a pang in his stomach.

“Why do you ask?”

“I thought…all the witnesses I’ve worked with, all those victims, they seemed better off testifying against their offenders. But I can’t stop thinking of that pain in Ophelia’s eyes when she was on the stand, that fear. I can only imagine what she saw coming from Vlad.”

“You didn’t make her testify in person, she chose to opt out of a video testimony.”

Sam smiled a little.

“She wanted to be brave for us, but she wouldn’t have to make that choice if I didn’t push her. I made her relive that nightmare and for what? Vlad got to retraumatize our daughter.”

Sam leaned over the counter, propping up her head with her elbows and burying her face in her hands. Danny was quick to rush to her side, gently slipping his arms around her shoulders.

“You can’t beat yourself up about it. This was a bad situation. There was no good option here and, honestly, I think you picked the better one.”

Sam curled her fingers around her temples. She didn’t look like she was about to cry, it was much worse than that. She looked defeated.

“I just wish for our family to be at peace. After everything we’ve sacrificed, I think we deserve that much. I think you especially deserve it, you gave your life for us.”

Instinctively, Danny shot a hand over his heart. He had a few layers on so he couldn’t feel the scar underneath, but he knew it well enough. He and Sam have traced their fingers over the baseball-sized mass of knotted tissue over the past fourteen years to know the shape by heart. It was the only scar his body has allowed him to keep. Sam liked to think of it as a reminder of how lucky he is to still be alive, sometimes even joking that it was the price he has to pay for never having to worry about wrinkles. Danny wished he could feel as optimistic, but all he could think of when feeling the scar was the oblivion he narrowly escaped, and the buried fear of someday returning to it.   

“I’d give anything for peace of mind,” Danny said, his fingers curling over his chest. “But I’ll settle for safety. Vlad is going to be put away for at least a lifetime, and once Tucker finds a way to contain Pariah Dark the Ghost Zone will be safe again. Maybe when all the threats are no longer looming over us, maybe we can heal.”

Sam looked over and gave Danny a half-hearted smile. She turned around and put her hand over his scar, rubbing her thumb over the hand that was already there.

“I hope so.”

* * *

“You sure this is where she hangs out during lunch?”

“I’m sure,” Trix said, “This is where the seniors eat lunch. I sometimes come here when I’m not eating with you guys.”

The school auditorium was filled with what appeared to be the entire twelfth grade. The larger number of seniors where sitting in the front row, or generally staying close to the stage. The kids further up in the social hierarchy were on the stage, sitting on dusty furniture salvaged from the prop room backstage.

“I don’t see Courtney anywhere.” Ophelia said, still scanning the room to see if she can prove herself wrong.

“She’s probably in the green room.” Abi said, “Trisha Kim is the student director in the theatre department, she usually invites her friends into the green room during lunch.”

“And I’m guessing Courtney is one of those friends?”

“Last I heard she is.”

Ophelia walked through the aisles, ignoring the stares she was getting from the older kids. Trix walked beside her, with Abi following hesitantly behind. Ophelia stopped and looked over to Abi.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just…it doesn’t feel right for two freshmen to stomp into senior territory like they own the place.”

“Oh come on, Abi, I don’t think anybody cares.”

“Hey, who broke the babies out of daycare!”

“Except maybe that guy.”

They found the source of the voice to a group of boys toward the very end of the aisle. Trix shot them a glare, but the other boys were already elbowing the offender.

“Shut up, Dustin, that’s the Phantom kid. Do you want her dad to murder us?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ophelia shouted, her eyes flashing bright enough to light up half the auditorium. There was silence at the end of the aisle.

Certain that nobody else was going to say anything, Ophelia stomped off to the stairs on the side of the stage and disappeared backstage. Trix and Abi did their best to follow after her.

Backstage wasn’t very big, but there was enough space to keep a few crates of costumes and props and couches that were so beyond their prime that could not have been used in any plays in the past few years. These were filled with more seniors, talking and playing with a few unpackaged props. Ophelia recognized them from waiting for Em to come out of of Drama Club. The green room was to the right of the backstage exit. The door was open just a crack and she took a peek inside.

Ophelia saw a group of about six girls and maybe two or three guys. They were eating from takeout boxes, most likely one of them went off campus before lunch period. Her attention turned to a girl sitting on the ground, her back against the end of a green chaise longue. She was wearing a bright green spandex crop top and burgundy skirt, with black lace stockings and boots. Her hair was two toned with one side light blonde with pink streaks and the other side a dark blonde with green streaks. Something about her seemed familiar and she wasn’t sure what.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and a girl which Ophelia quickly identified as Trisha Kim stared her down.

“What are you doing here, freshman?” She demanded coldly.

“I-um, I’m looking for Courtney Sinclair. I heard she would be here.”

At the sound of the name, the two-toned girl looked up, lo mein noodles hanging out of her mouth. As soon as she met eyes with Ophelia, she gave her a cold glare with her blue-green eyes while slurping up the noodles. She put the box down and got up.

“Ugh, it’s you.” Said the two-toned girl. “What? Did I steal another one of your boyfriends?”

Ophelia stared at the girl confused.

“What? Who are you?”

“I’m Courtney,” the two-toned girl growled, “You probably don’t remember me without a box to shove into my face.”

“But you’re not…” Ophelia’s eyes widened, “ _Ohh_ , oh, um, yeah, sorry, I-uh had a hard time recognizing you. You did something to your hair, right?”

“What do you want, Phantom?”

“Oh, um, Poindexter wanted me to check on you. He thinks you’ve been going through something.”

“I lost my virginity to a guy only to find out I was a side piece to a pedophile, does that qualify as ‘going through something’?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course, that’s what I thought. Well, okay, so I did my part, I’ll go tell him and leave you guys alone forever now. Byyyeee.”

With that, Ophelia turned on her heel and speed-walked out of the backstage area, both embarrassed, shocked, and transparent. She hardly even noticed Trix and Abi when she passed right by them at the exit.

“How did it go?” Abi asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Ophelia sputtered out, flustered.

“Why, what happened,” Trix said, worried, “Did she say something? Do I need to go talk to her?”

“No, no, no, it’s fine, I mean she was kind of mean, but it’s fine. Peachy even. Can we just not talk about it and go meet up with the others?”

Abi stood in Ophelia’s path. Ophelia phased through her just to bump into Trix.

“We’re not going anywhere until you tell us what’s going on.”

Ophelia pursed her lips. As nice as it was to have friends to look out for her, she was not in the mood. Her eyes flashed angrily.

“Then I’m leaving alone.”

And with that she evaporated in a dissolve of green mist. Abi and Trix were left to stare at the empty space their exhausting friend had stood.

“I hate when she does that.” Abi grumbled.

“Diddo” Trix replied.

* * *

Ophelia chose to eat by herself for the rest of lunch, she didn’t feel like she could face her friends. She remained quiet for the rest of the school day, trying to ignore the sad and scared glances in her direction and nodding politely when her teachers would stop her on the way out of their classrooms to give her their sympathies. She had just finished her last class of the day and was heading to the gym when she heard someone call to her.

“Hey, Phantom!”

Ophelia was going to ignore it, but she immediately turned around when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Courtney, looking much less mean than she did in the green room. As soon as their eyes met, Courtney looked down and crossed her arms.

“Look, I’m sorry I was rude to you during lunch. I know it’s not your fault, but I’m still not completely over the whole thing with Richard. And with that whole thing with the Plasmius trial, you don’t need me to be a bitch to you.”

It was Ophelia’s turn to look away, holding up a hand daintily.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it…”

Ophelia wanted to walk away then and there, she knew she should just walk away, but she couldn’t make herself move. Not unless she asked.

“What happened to the real Courtney Sinclair?”

Courtney’s eyes went wide. She looked like she crashed her own funeral.

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“I know what you are. You’re not the same girl who made out with my boyfriend. You’re a ch-“

Courtney covered Ophelia’s mouth.

“Shhh, not so loud!”

For a moment, Ophelia forgot she was in a busy hallway. Ophelia pulled Courtney’s hand off her mouth.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell anyone, I know a little about how these things work. I just want to know what happened to the original Courtney Sinclair.”

Courtney took her hand back, even more nervous than before.

“How did you spot me? _Again!_ We can’t be detected by machines, there’s no way your stupid ghost sense-“

“Wait, wait, wait, back up. ‘Again’?” The realization sparked to life like a firecracker. No wonder she felt so familiar. “Oh my god, _Portia_?”

Courtney – or was it Portia – once again covered Ophelia’s mouth.

“Shut up, that’s not my name anymore! I’m Courtney now.”

“But what are you doing here? What happened to the real Courtney?”

Courtney/Portia gave her an unfriendly glare that quickly crumbled into a look of defeat. She sighed and took her hand off Ophelia’s mouth.

“This isn’t a good time, or place. Can you get to the park by midnight?”

“I might, my parents are very attentive to me lately, for obvious reasons, so it’ll be tricky.”

“Well try. Meet me at the fountain and I’ll explain. Okay?”

“Okay, but you better not try to murder me.”

“It has come across my mind but trust me, that would be way more trouble than it’s worth.”

* * *

Jazz made it to the front of the school about half an hour after she got the text from Ophelia, letting her know that she was done with her tryouts. She was only behind a few minivans of parents who must also be waiting for their kids to come out of afterschool practice.

It took a minute to comb through the crowd of teenagers but eventually she found her niece on the front steps, having what must be an unpleasant conversation with a familiar-looking man.

Jazz beeped her horn twice, to let Ophelia know she was there. It was only a split second after the made the second beep that she realized that that may not have been a great thing to do, seeing everyone on the lawn turned their heads to her. Ophelia spotted her, and Jazz could see that Ophelia was losing a bit of opacity when she saw everyone stare at Jazz. Ophelia said something to the man and quickly walked to the backseat of Jazz’s car.

“Drive” Ophelia said.

“Who’s that guy you were talking to?” Jazz said, staring at her niece through the rearview mirror.

“That’s the coach. You don’t need to talk to him, let’s go-“

“Jasmine Fenton, is that you?”

Jazz look over to her passenger side window. Now that she was closer, the coach looked a little more familiar to her. She just couldn’t put her finger on the name.

“Um, yes? Have we met?”

“It’s me, Dash Baxter. You remember, captain of the JV and Varsity football team? You tutored me in math in 9th grade?”

It still didn’t quite hit Jazz who Dash was, but the look he was giving her gave her an aggravated feeling that she knew she felt before. She smiled and nodded politely.

“Oh, yeah, Baxter…nice to see you again…so you’re the P.E. teacher here?”

“And the coach, best this school has ever had if I do say so myself. Football team has won the state championship five years in a row.”

“That’s nice…”

“The years seemed to have treated you very well. I was wondering why this one was getting into a supermodel’s car.”

“Aunt Jazz,” a voice said from the backseat. “Didn’t Dad want us back home as soon as possible? Something about patent forms for FentonWorks?”

Bless that child.

“Oh yeah, right, thank you Wispy. Sorry, Baxter I’ve got to go.”

Baxter looked disappointed, if not a little suspicious, but he submitted and leaned away from her window.

“No worries, maybe we can meet up later. Maybe catch up over a cup of coffee?”

“Sorry, I’m busy that day.”

Jazz drove off before Baxter could get another word out. Now Jazz remembered who he was. She let out a sigh of relief for how close a call that was.

“Thanks for that, I forgot about that jerk.”

“Why did you call me Wispy?” Ophelia said, fading back into view.

“What do you mean? Everyone called you that when you were a baby.”

“Key word there being ‘baby’. I’m a teenager.”

“That may be true,” As soon as she braked for a red light, she turned over to Ophelia and pinched her cheek. “but you’ll always be a will o’ wisp to me.”

Ophelia swatted Jazz’s hand away, but Jazz saw that smile.

“You’re more embarrassing than Dad.”

“I’ll wear that as a badge of honor.”

Ophelia gave Jazz one more smirk before staring out the window. Her smile disappeared fast, losing herself to what must be a troubling thought. Jazz was always taken aback at how much Ophelia look so much like Danny at that age, especially with that perturbed look they share.

“Something happened at school today?”

“I can’t talk about it.”

“You know you can tell me anything.”

“Yeah, but it’s not my problem to tell.”

“Just tell me, is it a high school problem or a problem that might need police involvement?”

“I don’t know yet. All I know is that if I tell anyone I might risk somebody’s life, and I may not be exaggerating.”

“Do you want to tell your parents?”

Ophelia twisted in her seat until her back was facing the door and she was hugging her knees.

“No,” She grumbled into the back of the seat. “I don’t know if this is the kind of thing I can tell them. They might get carried away and make things worse.”

“Like when your mom made you testify?”

Jazz could see a flash of green over her shoulder.

“I’m not your patient, Aunt Jazz, and I’ve already got a therapist. Can you just talk to me like a regular aunt? Pretend to be cool or whatever?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like that.”

“I know but it’s still really annoying,” Ophelia curled back towards the seat. “And I’m not mad at Mom, for the record, I’m not mad at anybody.”

“You know it’s okay to be mad, right? Nobody’s going to hate you for having emotions- That was Aunt Jazz talking, not Dr. Fenton.”

“I’m not mad at anyone.” Ophelia repeated before falling silent. Jazz knew that that was partially true. She wasn’t mad at any _one_.

“Whatever you’re going through, whatever you’re feeling, just know we’re all here for you. Me, your mother, your father, Valerie, Tucker, we’re all here to help if you need anything, even if it’s just to talk. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure to keep your parents from going overboard.”

“Right now, I just want to be left alone. Can you just get Mom and Dad to give me some space, please?”

“I’ll do my best.”

* * *

The rest of the day was thick with an awkward tension. Hardly any words were spoken at dinner, clearly to avoid the subject that had been ever present in the past few weeks. Thankfully, everyone gave Ophelia space and she went straight to her room without any interruption. When night came, Ophelia was certain that Mom and Aunt Jazz were asleep, and that Dad was still out on patrol. For safety, however, she left a duplicate in her bed before leaving for the park. She didn’t think anything was going to happen, or at least nothing that she couldn’t handle, but just to be safe she sent Owen a text to check into her window every half hour until she came back to make sure that her duplicate was still there.

Despite getting to the fountain a few minutes early, Ophelia saw Portia already there waiting for her. She looked more nervous than Ophelia felt, which Ophelia wasn’t sure was a good or bad sign.

“Okay, I’m here,” Ophelia said, “what’s going on?”

Portia’s eyes darted around and set on Ophelia.

“Follow me,” She motioned to a pathway that led to a thick cluster of trees. Ophelia didn’t move.

“Why can’t you tell me here?”

“He said if you asked questions that I should just take you there.”

“Who said? Take me where? I’ve got zero patience for this cloak and dagger nonsense or whatever you want to call it.”

Portia turned back to her. Hey eyes were pleading, there was genuine fear and sadness behind them.

“Please, just let me show you. I don’t want to say it.”

Ophelia was about to protest got caught in her throat. Portia was scared. Ophelia shifted her eyes down guiltily.

“Okay, fine, lead the way.”

Portia smiled her gratitude. She turned back and walked down the path. Ophelia followed two paces behind. They kept walking for what must have been a mile before Portia lead Ophelia off the concrete path. There were so many trees that Ophelia wasn’t sure if she’d be able to keep track of Portia if it wasn’t for her insight, especially at the pace Portia was going. She must really want to get this over with, whatever this is. Or maybe she was trying to shake Ophelia off her tail. Eventually Portia stopped far away from the reach of the streetlamps. Ophelia formed a ball of light in her hand. It was a clearing of trees about the size of a walk-in closet. On the lower limbs of the trees were remains of candles, burned to the wick with wax drippings down the side of the trunk.

“They had their first…meeting here,” Portia said, “I see her memories. It was maybe the third or fourth date, he surprised her with a candlelit picnic. He said he stole some wine from his parents’ cellar, really good stuff too. At least to her it was, she doesn’t have much of a reference. He told her he loved her, that he never met anyone like her. She ate it up, and one thing lead to another…”

Ophelia blushed and took a step back.

“Why did you take me here?”

“Because this is where he lured her out.”

Portia knelt down to a patch of grass in the middle of the clearing. It was a dark brown color which Ophelia mistook it for bare earth. It didn’t look burned and it was too dark to be dead grass. Ophelia felt a pang in her chest.

“This is where it happened.” Portia said.

Ophelia nodded. Gingerly, she knelt down and touched the grass. Instantly, she had an image.

 

A boy lit a cluster of candles in a tree. Ophelia felt a pang of dread when she recognized him. Why did he look older? Portia was hidden behind the tree, with the darker complexion and short curls she had when Ophelia first met her. The two fell silent when there was a call from the other side of the clearing, towards the path.   
Courtney, the real Courtney, emerged out of the darkness. She didn’t have the streaks of color or the two tones, only dirt blonde hair and a displeased expression.   
“Well, Richard,” Courtney said with arms crossed, “You better have a good reason to want to meet me in the dead of night, you two-timing cradle robber.”  
“I want to apologize for what happened the other day with the Fenton girl,” Richard said, with nothing but sweet kindness in his voice. “I should have broken it off with her when I met you, but I didn’t want to hurt her. She’s so small, I was her first relationship, I had to find a way to break it to her gently.”  
“You missed your chance to break it to her gently and I wound up being humiliated in front of the whole school as a result. And when were you planning on breaking it to me that you were seeing a toddler?”  
“I’m sorry, I messed up. I never wanted to hurt anyone, but I wound up hurting everyone. I don’t deserve any kindness from anyone as good as you.”  
“You’re damn right, you don’t”  
“But I never lied about how I felt. I didn’t know what falling in love was like before I met you. You brought light into my dark, bleak world, and I don’t think I’ll be able to live without that light.”   
As he spoke, he walked slowly towards Courtney. He got to her side and began to wrap him arms around her, meeting little resistance. Courtney relaxed into his touch. She looked like she was falling into a haze.   
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” He kissed her neck, “and if we have to leave all of this behind then so be it.”  
Courtney’s eyes widened. She snapped back into focus. She pulled away from him and turned to face him.   
“Wait, what are you talking about?”  
“Run away with me. We can start a new life together in a new town. A great big city, wherever you want, as long as you have me.”  
“Are you crazy? I’m not going to just drop everything to run off with you!”  
With precision, Richard’s face melted into a pitiable look of confusion.   
“Why not, you’re going to leave town anyway to go to college. Why not get a head start on the whole thing?”  
“You’re telling me to drop out of school before I even finished submitting all my applications. You’re telling me to ditch my friends and family and everything else I care about so I can go ride off into the sunset with a guy who used me to cheat on a child. I’m sorry but I can’t do that.”  
All softness left Richard’s face.   
“I’m sorry to hear that. I guess this is the end for us then, huh? Can I at least get one last hug goodbye?”  
Courtney stopped herself from rolling her eyes. She may be disgusted by him but the request for such a small gesture touched her a little. With minimal enthusiasm, she opened up her arms. Richard was quick to wrap his arms around her one last time   
“I will always love you.” He whispered in her ear.   
Pain shot into Courtney’s eyes, making them wide. There was a muffled scream, but it didn’t come from Courtney. Only choked gurgles came from her mouth. Richard let her go and she collapsed onto the ground. He had a knife in his hand, dripping red. He knelt down to her face. He pulled the lids over the girl’s empty eyes. He gave her a kiss on her forehead and stroked her cheek.   
“You can come out now, dear.” He called out.   
Portia dragged herself out from behind the tree. Her color was gone and there were tears in her eyes. The look of horror was unmistakable.   
“You didn’t say anything about killing her,” Portia screeched.   
“She made her choice. Now go on, do whatever you changelings do.”  
Portia clung to the tree behind her, refusing to move an inch. Richard did not look pleased.   
“Oh, come on, don’t tell me you’re backing out? I told you I would find a life for you and I delivered. It’s not my fault you didn’t specify how you wanted to get a life.”  
“Obviously I didn’t want you to murder anyone!”   
“What difference does that make? A body is a body, a life is a life. Death isn’t anything new to you, certainly.”  
Richard walked over and pulled Portia up to her feet. She let out a small squeak as soon as Richard made contact.   
“Look, you can be scared of me all you want, you can cry for the girl all you want, but there’s no point in wasting a good life. The girl is months away from her eighteenth birthday, this is the closest you’ve ever gotten to aging out. Are you really going to pass this up because of some silly moral qualms?”  
Portia was less rigid and more conflicted. She looked at the girl on the ground. There was a strange conflict of emotions. It was like a winning lottery ticket in a mouse trap. After a few minutes, Portia walked over and knelt to the body. The moment she touched the body, she was enveloped in a blinding light. The light leaked its way towards the body, swallowing it like a python. Once the body was completely absorbed, Portia glowed brighter. Finally, the light faded away. Where Portia stood was an identical copy of Courtney. The body was gone, the only indication that it was ever there was a red stain in the grass.

 

Ophelia shot her hand back violently, knocking her on her butt. She gasped, suddenly short on breath. She felt warm tears roll down her cheeks, everything was cold. Ophelia curled into herself, staring out at nothing.

“He killed her, just like that.” She mumbled.

“I swear, I didn’t know he would do that.” Portia whimpered. “I thought he found a way to make me human and give me an alias. I wouldn’t have agreed to go with him if I had known.”

“But you took her place…”

“You don’t know how many times I’ve gone through this, how many families I’ve lost. I just want to grow up and have a full life, I can’t do that as a ghost. Plus, think of Courtney’s family. Think of how heartbroken they’d be if they knew that she was murdered. I couldn’t save her, I can at least live for her.”

“Why would he do that? Why you?”

Ophelia flinched when Portia put a hand on her shoulder. She shot up into the air and floated back.

“You’re not going to tell anyone, are you? This might be my only chance to age out. I can’t keep doing this anymore, Ophelia, I just can’t.”

Ophelia floated further away, above the tree line. Portia became frantic. She was crying now.

“Ophelia please, you have to tell me that you won’t say anything. Please!”

Ophelia wanted to say something, but no sounds came out. Instead she turned and flew way, letting Portia’s screams fade away with distance.

* * *

“Are you sure you’re okay to do this?”

“I don’t know if I am, but I need to talk to him.”

The first thing Ophelia did the following morning was call Auntie Val to see if she could get her a visit to the prison. Auntie Val managed to get her in, but insisted she go with her. Her parents may not have to know, but someone has to make sure she stayed out of trouble. At the moment, the two were waiting to be lead into the room to meet with the prisoner they came for. Ophelia was fidgeting with the inhibitor cuff the corrections officers put on her and Auntie Val was trying her best to calm her nerves.

“I’m not sure I’m okay with you talking to a convicted felon alone,” Auntie Val said, in her warm but strict motherly tone. “Especially one you have a history with.”

“I need to talk to him alone,” Ophelia said, “If anyone else hears what we have to talk about, it will jeopardize someone’s well-being, and I don’t know if I want to do that yet.”

“Well, if you need any help be sure to call for the guards outside. I’ll be close by.”

“Thanks,”

“Be careful, just because he’s restrained doesn’t mean you can provoke him.”

“I know”

Auntie Val gave her a smile and a pat on her back.

“You’re very brave doing this.”

Ophelia smiled sheepishly.

“Thanks, Auntie Val.”

Auntie Val gave Ophelia a hug, just as the corrections officer called Ophelia in. Nervous, Ophelia followed the officer into a room with a table. She took a seat on the side opposite the mechanism used to hold the restraints in place. Ophelia took the couple minutes of solitude to breathe deeply.

_You can do this._

The doors opened. Two human guards came in, with Richard Waltz standing between them. He looked different, Ophelia thought, he looked older. Maybe it was the prison uniform, she convinced herself, it made him look less innocent at the very least. Ophelia stayed silent as the guards locked Richard’s restraints into place. She made the mistake of meeting his eyes, which were staring at her intently, hungrily. She didn’t want to break away, knowing that would be taken as a sign of weakness, so she forced herself to stare him down and try not to squirm.

After the guards told Ophelia pretty much the same thing Auntie Val did, they left the room. Richard smiled a big, unsettling grin.

“Ah, my angel,” he greeted, “You are more beautiful than I recalled. What brings you here from heaven?”

“I saw Portia,” Ophelia said in a flat, even tone, “I know everything.”

His grin grew wider and more mocking.

“You do, do you? Took you long enough, I expected to see you a lot earlier. I guess I was a little too good at picking a girl from different circles.”

“Why did you kill Courtney? She didn’t do anything to you.”

Richard shrugged.

“She ruined my relationship with you, which got me in trouble with my boss, and worse than that she wouldn’t go with me. She said she loved me, and she wouldn’t prove it when I gave her the chance.”

Ophelia pulled back in disgust. Richard said it so matter-of-fact. There wasn’t a hint of remorse or even of pride. He was indifferent to murder.

“She didn’t ruin our relationship, you did. And if that’s what you were upset about, why didn’t you kill me?”

“Well for one, Plasmius would never let me kill you even if I wanted to. The other reason is that I have standards. I don’t kill the pure.”

“You say that as if you’ve done that before.”

“Ophelia, I have been around for over two hundred years. Do you really think you are the first heart I’ve broken?”

Ophelia shook her head. Richard looked a little bored and continued.

“They always say that they love me with all my heart, but when put to the test hardly any of them would go with me. They’re more than willing to give up their bodies but they weren’t able to give up their lives of comfort.”

Ophelia put her hands up as a gesture for him to cease.

“I don’t want to hear this. Why did you make Portia take Courtney’s place?”

“Insurance. You told me about Portia the first day I met you, remember? About how you and Trix got her taken back by the Agency? I thought you would be less inclined to ruin her chance again, no matter how she got it.”

Ophelia’s fingers curled into fists.

“That is messed up.”

“Is that so? Well then, you can always report us. I’m already in prison so all I’ll get is an extended sentence. Portia will get taken back by the Agency, and Courtney’s parents will be notified that their daughter is dead. Well, they can give them some good news, at least there isn’t a body for them to go through the trouble of burying.”

Ophelia was silent, her fingers uncurled slightly. Richard leaned back into his seat as far as his cuffs would allow.

“Yeah, it’s not that simple, is it?” he taunted, “I’ll admit, what I did is unsavory, but is it really hurting anyone leaving things the way they are?”

“What about Courtney? Doesn’t she deserve justice?”

“Ah, that pretty word you goody two-shoe types love so much. If she takes issue with it, she can rat us out herself, if she ever made it to our side of the fence. I don’t see why you’re getting yourself so wound up over this. If I recall, you don’t like worrying about things that aren’t your problem.”

Ophelia crossed her arms and turned away.

“You’re a monster, what did I ever see in you?”

“What I wanted you to see.” Richard said plainly. His eyes were looking her over. “You know, out of all the girls I have dated, you’re my favorite. You want to know why?” Ophelia said nothing, so he continued, “For one, your devotion was genuine. It may be the only time I was absolutely certain a girl loved me. If I asked, you would’ve done anything for me…you know what Plasmius’ plan was? Why he sent me to you? He didn’t expect you to fall for me, but he did want you to trust me. He wanted you to trust me so much that you would believe anything I told you. He wanted me to alienate you from your friends, your family, to a point where if I asked you to run away, you would not hesitate-“

“I don’t want to hear this!” Ophelia screeched.

“If you insist, that old man isn’t a particularly fond subject for me, either.”

Ophelia got up from her seat and turned towards the door.

“I’m done here.”

“Sit down.” Richard’s voice was harsh and cold, like Ophelia has never heard before. It should have terrified her, but instead it enraged her. Her eyes flashed.

“Excuse me? You do not get to tell me what to do.”

“I’m not done talking to you, angel.”

“Do not call me angel!”

Ophelia kicked the chair from under him. He fell to the floor, arms over stretched where they were still strapped to the table.

“I am sick of you amoral psychopaths getting away with everything! If you weren’t already dead, I’d kill you myself!”

She was about to kick Richard in the head when she was pulled away. She didn’t realize that the guards were in the room.

“Okay, kid, visit’s over.” The guard told her while he carried her away.

Ophelia growled. She glared at Richard as the other guard pulled him up to his feet. He was smiling at her, as if this were some sort of victory for him. If she wasn’t wearing an inhibitor cuff, she would’ve shot him.

* * *

Sam saw Valerie’s car pull into the curb in front of her house. Ophelia hopped out of the backseat and walked to the door with her eyes glued to the ground. She must have felt Sam glaring at her from the living room window.

“Where have you been?” Sam said as soon as the door clicked open. “You were supposed to be home hours ago. Why won’t you let Valerie tell me where she took you? I know you snuck out last night, too. Don’t think that duplicate fooled me-“

Sam stopped her rant when she felt Ophelia’s arms around her waist. Her collar bones felt wet where her daughter’s eyes pressed against her blouse. Stunned, Sam rested her hands on Ophelia’s shoulders.

“Sweetie, are you okay?”

“No,” Ophelia mumbled into her blouse. “I’m not okay. Nothing has been okay since the trial.”

“Oh baby”

Sam hugged her back. Her eyes started to burn.

“I was so mad that they didn’t believe me. It hurt so much, Mommy.”

“I know it hurts, I’m so sorry I put you through that.”

“Don’t be.”

Sam pulled away to look at her daughter, confused.

“What?”

Ophelia sniffled, trying to smile. She looked so pitiful, even with the mascara running down her cheeks.

“You were right, it was good for me to tell my story. At least people know what happened to me and Grandma and Grandpa, even if some of them don’t believe me. I don’t have this buried in me forever.”

She went back to hugging Sam. Sam stroked her hair, as best she could to soothe her.

“I still shouldn’t have pushed you like that. I was so focused on getting a guilty verdict, I didn’t take your feelings into account I’m sorry.”

Before she knew it, Sam started crying too. Neither mother nor daughter could hold it in anymore, there was too much pain to hold back. They were on the floor crying in each other’s arms. Sam spotted something on top of the stairs. Jazz was watching them. It was hard to make out her expression, but it seemed like she was at least relieved for them. They were finally letting it out.


End file.
